The European Commission approved the Polish state aid scheme for 1.2 billion euros to support BESS

The European Commission has approved a Polish scheme to support investments in electricity storage systems worth 1.2 billion euros. This is stated in a message on the website of the European Commission.

The scheme was approved under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023 and 2 May 2024.

According to the TCTF, Poland notified the Commission of a EUR 1.2 billion scheme to support the installation of at least 5.4 GWh of new electricity storage to facilitate the transition to a net-zero output economy. The scheme will be funded (partly by the Modernization Fund and partly by the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).

The scheme is aimed at reducing the dependence of the Polish electricity system on fossil fuels and promoting the smooth integration of RES. The scheme will support only new BESS with a capacity of at least 4 MW.

Under the scheme, assistance will take the form of two cumulative forms of support: direct grants and loans.

The total amount of assistance in the form of grants and loans together should not exceed 45% of the investment costs of the project, and may be increased to 65% for assistance to small companies and to 55% for assistance to medium-sized companies.