Subsidy (Thermal rehabilitation grants)

Updated: 10.01.2019

Author: Krzysztof Ignaciuk

The thermal rehabilitation grant scheme supports building renovations which increase energy efficiency or the use of renewable energy sources for heating purposes. Lenders may receive grants to pay off part of the loan taken out to implement such measures.

Eligible measures shall reduce a building's annual energy demand, annual energy losses or annual costs of heat production or replace existing heat generation plants with renewable or high-efficiency CHP plants (Art. 3 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Eligible technologies

In general, all renewable energy sources used in heat generation are eligible (Art. 3 par. 4 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Aerothermal energy

Eligible

Hydrothermal energy

Eligible

Biogas

Eligible

Geothermal energy

Eligible

Biomass

Eligible

Solar thermal energy

Eligible

Amount

The amount of grant is equal to 20% of the loan received for the implementation of thermal rehabilitation undertakings. However, the subsidy may not exceed 16% of the total costs of the modernisation work and may not exceed twice the amount of the anticipated annual savings in energy costs, identified in the energy audit (Art. 5 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Addressees

The owner or manager of the building in which refurbishment works are conducted (Art. 7 par. 1 in conjunction with Art. 2 No. 1 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Procedure

Process flow

  • Application. The investor submits an application for a subsidy to the state development bank (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego - BGK) via the lending bank (Art. 12 par. 2 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation). 
  • Credit agreement. The lending bank passes the application and the credit agreement to the BGK (Art. 12 par. 3 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation). 
  • Decision. The BGK examines the applications for subsidies in the order in which they were received. The BGK informs both the investor and the lending bank on the decision of whether or not a subsidy has been granted. If the decision is positive, the BGK also specifies the amount of the subsidy (Art. 17 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation). 
  • Subsidy transfer. The BGK transfers the grant to the lending bank only if the works have been conducted in accordance with the project plan and have been completed by the date specified in the loan agreement (Art. 19 par. 1 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation). The lending bank uses the grant to cover part of the loan taken out by the investor (Art. 19 par. 2 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Competent authority

Grants are awarded by the BGK and financed from the Fund for Thermal Rehabilitation and Refurbishments (Art. 12 par. 1 Act on Thermal Rehabilitation).

Distribution of costs

State

The costs of the thermal rehabilitation subsidy are financed from the national budget (Art. 24 Act on Thermal rehabilitation).

 

Poland

Further information