It is already certain that in January 2022 the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will start a call for applications under the new priority programme entitled “Support for electric vehicles charging infrastructure and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure”. During the industry meeting at the Powiśle Power Plant, which was an extensive presentation of the potential, possibilities and achievements of the Polish „charger” industry, the assumptions of this programme were presented. Thanks to it, a network of more than 17 thousand electric vehicle charging points and 20 hydrogen stations will be created across Poland.

Together with the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, the meeting was attended by: President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, Maciej Chorowski, Vice-President of NFOŚiGW, Artur Lorkowski, as well as the heads of industry organisations and associations and the representatives of several dozen companies operating in the sector of ecological automotive and zero-emission transport. It was an opportunity to discuss, exchange opinions and experiences in the field of electromobility as well as to present available solutions in the field of charging electric vehicles.

We have interpreted the global trends properly. Even now, Poland is the largest exporter of car batteries in the European Union and the demand for lithium-ion batteries manufactured in our country and necessary for the production of electric vehicles, is constantly and dynamically growing. Today, they are Poland’s number one export product. Even in the difficult, pandemic year of 2020, their export recorded the largest annual increase in sales, as a single item in the statistics of Polish foreign trade.

– stresses the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment, Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński.

This is one of the elements of the government’s strategy to develop broadly understood electromobility in Poland, including the electrification of individual and collective transport, and thus – to reduce the number of vehicles emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) on Polish roads. The new programme of NFOŚiGW aimed at supporting electric and hydrogen vehicle charging infrastructure is an important supplement to this strategic line of development.

– adds the deputy head of the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

Car batteries and the entire system of power supply and service of “electric cars” are currently called the “oil of the 21st century”. As it has been repeatedly stressed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the government intends to turn Poland into a kind of “battery industrial hub” on a European, and even global, scale. What develops very quickly in our country, is not only the production of ready-made cells but also of many necessary components and subassemblies for them, such as: separators, electrolytes, cables, electrotechnical elements. The same applies, both in terms of production and technological progress, to the „charger” sector and the hydrogen economy. Of great importance in this process is public aid implemented through the priority programmes of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. 

The financial support addressed by our institution to these future-proof industries undoubtedly contributes to creating a competitive advantage for Polish companies in the increasingly important branch of the European economy, i.e. the charger and battery industry. The properness of these activities is confirmed by existing success of Polish companies in the global market.

– highlights the President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, Maciej Chorowski.

At the same time, it is an ecological challenge, as the objective is to produce batteries with a lower carbon footprint than before, to avoid and prevent environmental pollution and to create an efficient and productive car battery recycling system. In our current activities and plans, we attach particular importance to climate and environmental issues.

– adds the head of NFOŚiGW.

The participants in the meeting at the Powiśle Power Plant, in parallel with watching the exhibition of the latest achievements of “charger” technologies, also became familiar with the detailed assumptions of the above-mentioned, new priority programme of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, entitled “Support for electric vehicles charging infrastructure and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure”. The budget of this programme amounts to PLN 870 million, and as part of it, local governments, companies, cooperatives and tenants’ associations as well as individual farmers will be able to use non-refundable subsidies for the construction of infrastructure. Its objective is to popularise zero-emission cars in Poland, and, at the same time, to strengthen the domestic industry and service sector, especially in industries working for electromobility, such as: chemical, electrotechnical and metal industries, including, in particular, the production of batteries and chargers, hydrogen generation and IT technologies.

Today’s meeting at the Powiśle Power Plant was a manifestation of substantive and expert cooperation between public institutions and the representatives of the industry, as also confirmed by the participants in the talks.

The launch by NFOŚiGW of a programme supporting the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a very important step towards the quantitative, but also qualitative, development of the infrastructure market in Poland, based on DC stations. The rules of cofinancing have been the subject of many analyses and consultations carried out by PSPA, thanks to which they correspond to a number of demands of the industry.

– admits Maciej Mazur, Managing Director of the Polish Alternative Fuels Association.

It should be stressed that the programme provides for appropriately higher subsidies for high-power stations allowing to use the potential of new generation electric cars. According to the forecasts of the Polish EV Outlook, by 2025 there should be at least 43 thousand public points in Poland. Without implementing subsidies and an effectively working subsidy mechanism, it will not be possible to achieve this result.

– adds the head of PSPA.

Investments in efficient and modern charging infrastructure are essential for the further development of the electromobility market. If we want to give more people a chance to use an electric car, we need to ensure that each potential user has easy and universal access to charging stations. If they do not have such a device in their garage, then it is necessary to ensure the construction of public infrastructure. This is one of the key challenges to which the cofinancing programme responds – notes the President of the Polish Chamber of Electromobility Development, Krzysztof Burda. – It is also an opportunity for companies that want to invest in zero-emission fleets even now. The support programme will make it much easier for them to invest in their charging stations or will encourage completely new entities to switch to electromobility.

– concludes the head of PIRE.

It should be noted that in the coming years the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will allocate as much as PLN 1.87 billion in total for the development of electric vehicle charging and refuelling infrastructure. From this pool of money, PLN 1 billion will be allocated for developing the power network for the needs of electric vehicle chargers, and the above-mentioned amount of PLN 870 million of subsidies from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will support investing in car charging stations and points themselves as well as in hydrogen refuelling stations.

Estimates indicate that the number of zero-emission vehicles in Poland will be growing quickly, which is directly related to implementing NFOŚiGW programmes such as “My electric car” or “Green Public Transport”. The natural course of things will be the concurrent development of charging infrastructure, as reflected in the aforementioned priority programme prepared by NFOŚiGW. Its implementation should significantly increase the availability of chargers, especially in small and medium-sized towns.

Currently, there are about 1,700 electric vehicle charging stations in Poland, of which just a little more than 30% are direct current (DC) charging points, and almost 70% are slow alternating current (AC) chargers with a power lower than or equal to 22 kW.

The financial offer of NFOŚiGW should increase the share of public fast and high-power chargers

– notes the Vice-President of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, Artur Lorkowski.

The technical feasibility of this plan depends on the development of the power grid. That is why the National Fund will simultaneously offer support to distribution network operators for investments in the construction of power lines and transformer stations, which are necessary for the construction of fast vehicle charging stations.

– sums up the deputy head of NFOŚiGW.

The supporting expansion of the distribution network will be implemented through a priority programme entitled “Development of electricity infrastructure for the development of electric vehicle charging stations”, which is addressed to distribution system operators (OSDs). The budget of this project is PLN 1 billion, and the funds (in the form of subsidies) will be allocated for the construction, expansion and modernisation of about 4 thousand km of power lines (overhead and underground) and the creation of about 800 transformer and distribution stations. The programme will be financed from the Modernisation Fund.

It is worth adding that in the priority programme of NFOŚiGW “Support for electric vehicles charging infrastructure and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure”, applications for co-financing in the form of subsidies can be submitted from 22 January 2022 to 31 December 2025, however, not longer than until the exhaustion of allocation funds. Should the pool of money allocated for the implementation of the programme be exhausted earlier, before the scheduled date of completion of the call, the relevant information will be posted on the NFOŚiGW website.

The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) is a leader in implementing programmes changing the quality of life in Poland for the better. For more than 30 years, it has been initiating and supporting activities for the environment and energy transition. Subordinate to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, the institution finances and co-finances environmental projects. It has already allocated PLN 270 billion for this purpose, of which almost 2/3 are its own funds. Its support is used by entrepreneurs, local governments and state administration, as well as universities, non-governmental organisations and private individuals.