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Poland Energy Billions in Spending to Transform Polish Heating System

Implementation of the Fit for 55 Package requirements in the Polish District Heating Industry Association will potentially cost between $70 billion to $105 billion. That’s according to a new report by the Polish Association of Combined Heat and Power Plants; a report which assesses the impact of the EU’s Fit for 55 Package settlement on the Polish district heating industry. Fit for 55 refers to the EU’s target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The proposed package aims to bring EU legislation in line with the 2030 goal.

Over the past two years, intensive work has been going on at the EU forum on the Fit for 55 package, in which great attention has been paid to, among other things, the area of decarbonization of district heating.

As calculated by the Association experts, meeting the requirements of the EU’s Fit for 55 package will require Poland to invest in several different projects, including:

  • $23.5 billion to $44.5 billion - for generation infrastructure,
  • $19 billion to $25 billion - for transmission and distribution infrastructure,
  • $26.5 billion to $35 billion - for modernization of receiving facilities, 

that is, in total - from $70 billion to $105 billion for decarbonization of the district heating sector.

In recent years, intensive investment processes have been initiated in the district heating sector in Poland. Along with efforts to decarbonize heat generation, work is being undertaken to build hybrid systems in which central generating units will be supplemented by renewable sources of heat generation. In line with climate and energy policy goals, district heating systems are expected to achieve climate neutrality in 2050. 

The market for district heating in Poland is the largest in the EU, which is mainly due to climatic conditions in correlation with high urban density and a high urbanization rate. One indicator of the size and potential of district heating networks is the amount of heat sold to these customers. Poland is the undisputed leader in this comparison. The volume of heat sold to district heating customers in Poland is almost five times that of Germany and twice that of Denmark. These are countries that are also characterized by highly developed district heating systems.

The U.S. Commercial Service Poland highly recommends U.S. technology providers closely follow the developments in the above-described area, as the opportunities for U.S. know-how and technological solutions may soon arise.  For more information, please contact the U.S. Commercial Service Poland at  office.warsaw@trade.gov

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