Columbus Energy has signed a €13.24 million loan agreement. The company plans to use the funds partly to repay existing bank financing ahead of schedule and partly to complete or settle customer orders under Poland’s Clean Air programme for which advance payments had previously been collected.
Columbus Energy said it is changing the way it operates under the Clean Air programme. In cases where an investment can be carried out, the company intends to finance the work from its own funds rather than waiting for payments from Poland’s regional environmental protection and water management funds.
If an investment cannot be completed for formal or technical reasons, customers who previously paid advances are expected to receive full refunds.
Columbus changes its customer service model
The company has announced three main measures concerning customers participating in the programme.
For customers from whom Columbus collected an advance payment and whose thermal modernisation project can be carried out, work is expected to begin within two weeks. According to the company, the entire project should be completed within 100 days.
In such cases, Columbus will finance the investment from its own funds, without making the start of installation dependent on the date on which the relevant regional environmental fund transfers subsidy payments.
The second group comprises customers whose projects cannot be completed for formal or technical reasons. Columbus says it will refund 100% of the advances paid by these customers.
The company is also changing its model for new customers. People acquired by Columbus who have not yet paid an advance will receive installations without an upfront payment. The company will prefinance the cost of the work, although the pace of implementation will depend on its available financing capacity.
Company criticises operation of the Clean Air programme
Columbus says the change in its model is a response to prolonged procedures and problems with the flow of funds through regional environmental protection funds.
Company representatives point out that the contractor is not a party to the agreement concluded between the beneficiary and the relevant regional fund. According to Columbus Energy, this limits contractors’ ability to influence proceedings and the timing of subsidy payments.
The company also argues that changes introduced to the programme so far have not adequately resolved procedural problems. Management describes the current system as excessively regulated and says Columbus intends to reduce its involvement in activities extending beyond its role as a contractor.
– We cannot guarantee on behalf of the regional funds or the state that subsidies will be paid on time. What we can do is meet our own commitments to customers before winter – Columbus Energy said in its statement.
Clean Air programme to play a smaller role in Columbus’s business
The change also affects the company’s broader strategy.
Columbus Energy plans to place greater emphasis on the sale and installation of photovoltaic systems, energy storage solutions and heat pumps, as well as on the further development of ZENERA technology for managing distributed energy systems.
The Clean Air programme is expected to become a complementary part of the company’s core operations rather than one of its main areas of growth.
Columbus Energy’s management is critical of the programme’s current operating model. In its statement, the company said that “overregulation is depriving the Polish sector of the oxygen it needs to grow.”
€13.24m in new financing
The €13.24 million loan is intended both to reorganise the company’s financing structure and to cover costs related to its commitments to customers participating in the Clean Air programme.
Part of the funds will be used to repay existing bank financing ahead of schedule. The remainder is intended to allow Columbus to finance installations and refund customer advances without having to wait for settlements from regional environmental funds.
The company did not disclose the value of the order portfolio covered by the new model or the number of customers affected by the planned installations and refunds.
