More than 30 representatives of towns and municipalities attended a workshop organised on 24 and 26 October by the Association of Municipalities Polish Network “Energie Cités” in collaboration with the Frank Bold Foundation. The meeting was devoted to energy communities and the opportunities of their functioning in cities and municipalities in the perspective of recently updated Polish legislation. The event consisted of two parts: an online lecture introducing participants to the topic of energy communities (24.10.2023) and a stationary workshop in Cracow (26.10.2023).

An expert in the field of energy law and, in particular, energy communities, who shared her knowledge during the training, was Ms Agnieszka Stupkiewicz – legal adviser from the Frank Bold Foundation. Her speciality is the legislation governing the production of energy from renewable sources and the creation and operation of energy cooperatives. She is also the co-author of a handbook entitled “Legal Aspects of the Creation of Energy Communities”, as well as the author of extensive analyses concerning Polish regulations in relation to European Union law on energy cooperatives, the degree of implementation of the Market and RED Directives into the legal order, the need for changes in the regulations concerning prosumers, and a legal comparative study concerning biogas plants.

During the first part of the meeting, i.e. the online lecture, the speaker presented the legal aspects of decentralised energy and its position in strategic documents, and then familiarised the audience with the types of energy communities available under current Polish legislation and pointed out the basic differences between them. In the following part of the lecture, the amendment of the Law on Renewable Energy Sources was discussed, in particular the changes concerning the energy cluster, virtual prosumer, collective prosumer and tenant prosumer, and the possibilities of their application in practice, as well as civic energy communities and civic RES energy communities.

During the stationary workshop in Cracow, the process of setting up an energy cooperative and an energy cluster was presented in more detail. The meeting was the excellent opportunity to compare different forms of energy communities, but also to exchange relevant experience and discuss it with experts from other cities and municipalities in Poland. Participants had the opportunity to put the newly acquired knowledge into practice in small group exercises session.

There were also experiences from the local level presented. Ms Kamila Fordońska from the Cracow City Council spoke about the possibilities of creating civic energy communities in the city and about the first prosumer installations in Cracow's housing cooperatives. She also introduced a guidebook entitled “Cracow's civic energy”, which contains, among others, case studies, i.e. reports on the cost-effectiveness of the prosumer collective renewable energy formula for selected multifamily buildings and one nursery building.

Finally, Anna Fijas from the Association of Municipalities of the Polish Network “Energie Cités” presented a free interactive online course entitled “Espresso Training”, enabling its participants to expand their knowledge of energy communities.

The strong interest in this subject, justified by the latest and planned changes in Polish law and new funding programmes for the energy communities creation and operation, will certainly result in the search for new technical and organisational solutions to reduce energy consumption, lower bill payments and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Program

To download the presentations below, please enter the password you received in the email sent after the event. Those of you who did not attend the event but are interested in viewing the presentations, please contact our office: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The following presentations may not be shared or published without the permission of the Association.

Presentations:

1. Wprowadzenie w tematykę społeczności energetycznych (24.10.2023) , AGNIESZKA STUPKIEWICZ, Fundacja Frank Bold
2. Proces zakładania spółdzielni energetycznej oraz klastra energii (26.10.2023) , AGNIESZKA STUPKIEWICZ, Fundacja Frank Bold
3. Szanse rozwoju energetyki prosumenckiej na terenach gmin miejskich – doświadczenia Gminy Miejskiej Kraków , KAMILA FORDOŃSKA, Urząd Miasta Krakowa
4. Rozwijanie umiejętności w zakresie planowania społeczności energetycznych - interaktywny kurs online "Espresso Training" , ANNA FIJAS, Stowarzyszenie Gmin Polska Sieć „Energie Cités”

The training was organized within the framework of CommitClimate project (Towards energy transition and climate neutrality in the BSR municipalities), No #C026, funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region program; OwnYourSECAP project (Bringing local and regional municipalities towards owning their SECAPs), funded by the LIFE+ Environment and Climate Financial Instrument under grant agreement No 101077109; EnergyMeasures project (Supporting households at risk of energy poverty), funded by the HORIZON 2020 program under grant agreement No 894759; and within the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.