The Ministry of Climate and Environment announced today the details of the new regulations for the “Clean Air” program. However, program implementers see several potential risks in these changes.
The newly unveiled regulations are a result of changes promised by the Ministry of Climate and Environment at the end of December 2024. Following public consultations, the ministry developed new implementation rules for the program, including the conditions for granting government subsidies. However, from the perspective of the renewable energy sector (RES), including device manufacturers and thermal modernization contractors, these rules do not adequately consider the rights and needs of businesses.
The recently established Clean Air Employers’ Association (Związek Pracodawców Czystego Powietrza, PCP), which represents the interests of dozens of member companies actively involved in government programs for years, has raised concerns that the proposed regulatory changes completely disregard the role of contractors in the entire process. A particularly controversial issue is the introduction of price limits for each investment component, which fail to account for market rates of equipment and materials or regional price differences across the country.
“We appreciate that the Ministry of Climate and Environment has published the new rules for the Clean Air program on schedule. However, we believe that these regulations severely impact the security of RES sector entrepreneurs, who will now have to adjust their pricing to imposed limits, significantly reducing the profitability of their products and services. This, in turn, threatens the financial viability of companies that have already been struggling for months with payment delays due to prolonged fund recovery processes from the Provincial Funds for Environmental Protection and Water Management,” commented Mariusz Dąbek, President of the PCP Association.
The PCP Association urges the authorities to consider the concerns gathered by industry representatives and discuss them with officials from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) in upcoming meetings.
Meanwhile, Górzny Group, one of the founding companies of the PCP Association, highlights that previous challenges related to payment bottlenecks within the program have been a source of concern for both beneficiaries and contractors. The company emphasizes that ensuring financial security for firms implementing thermal modernization and heat source replacement projects is crucial.
“If we truly want to accelerate the modernization of buildings and the replacement of inefficient heating systems, we need to revise the pricing framework outlined in the regulations. The current rates do not reflect the actual costs of project execution, which could hinder the efficient implementation of necessary upgrades,” added Adrian Górzny, CEO of Górzny Group.
The company also stresses the importance of a more flexible approach to financing and streamlining decision-making processes so that the Clean Air program can become a more effective tool in supporting Poland’s energy transition, particularly for households affected by energy poverty.
Source: https://ceo.com.pl/nowa-odslona-programu-czyste-powietrze-uderza-w-firmy-z-branzy-oze-41449
