One of the topics of the meeting was the “Renovation Wave”, i.e. the European Commission’s proposal within the European Green Deal for the modernisation of the construction sector in line with the ambitious climate policy.  The Portuguese Presidency intends to agree and adopt by June this year the conclusion of the EU Council of the renovation of buildings.

On what concerns the renovation of buildings, we see challenges related to the its social dimension, including the elimination of energy poverty and the reduction of costs for households, which is why it is extremely important to provide special EU funds to mitigate the social consequences of the transition. The practical aspects of applying for support constitute a challenge, which is why Poland is constantly working to improve national programmes in this area,

said deputy minister.

The second topic raised by ministers at the Thursday meeting was the role of decentralised production of renewable energy sources and local communities in the context of the EU strategy for the integration of energy systems, presented by the European Commission in July 2020. This strategy identifies certain areas of dispersed energy that need to be developed, and that would be favourable for the system integration. EU ministers discussed the existing barriers encountered by prosumers and investors, and shared best practices and experiences in creating a regulatory framework for dispersed energy.

The implementation of the concept of an energy cluster is a good example of Polish experiences. Such clusters are more stable in energy balancing, much more efficient in network integration than monocultures, e.g. limited to photovoltaics or wind only, and have the possibility of local management of DSR services. The number of such energy communities in Poland will increase,

said Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński.