RENALDO – Rural Development through Renewable Energy Sources

Advancing the market penetration of the collective prosumer model in rural Poland.
Innovative market models are important to ensure that a region’s transition towards renewable energy has beneficial impacts on the sustainable development of a local economy. Among them are so-called collective prosumer models – where energy cooperatives members are both producers and consumers of energy –, which have proven to encourage regional stakeholders in driving the energy transition forward. Given the lack of experience with energy cooperatives in Poland, lighthouse projects are needed to showcase how collective prosumer models can work, and which societal, economic and environmental related benefits can be created. These pilot projects in six selected municipalities can generate the necessary empirical knowledge to adapt existing regulatory and institutional setting in Poland.
Setting up a photovoltaic plant. Photo: (c) Science n HD
As a first step, the project develops a handbook on setting up and operating energy cooperatives; this is based on good practices from Poland, Germany, and other EU Member States and will be tested in two pilot communities in the provinces Podlaskie and Kuyavian-Pomeranian.
A second step aims at further refining the intervention and implementing additional energy cooperatives in four other communities in Podlaskie and Kuyavian-Pomeranian. In parallel, RENALDO supports the selected communities in the development of business plans ensuring the profitability of an energy cooperatives.
Third, a session with the relevant stakeholders serves to analyse the lessons learned from setting-up energy cooperatives. The findings support adjustments of the regulatory and institutional setting and good practices disseminated to other Polish regions.
Finally, several events ensure the dissemination of the project results to political decision-makers from other Polish regions and interested communities.
The RENALDO project was made possible through financing of the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) of the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU).
Updated: April 2021
Countries: Poland
Project duration: 10/20 - 01/23
Target groups: Cities, towns and municipalities, Governments, Regional governments
Implementing organisation: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Partners: 100 Percent Renewable Foundation, ACTIVUS Foundation, KPODR - Kujawsko-Pomorski Ośrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego
Ms Paulina Spiller
Organisation:
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Address:
Reichspietschufer 20
10785 Berlin
Germany
Email:
paulina.spiller∂giz.de
The European Climate Initiative (EUKI):
Potsdamer Platz 10,
10117 Berlin – Deutschland
Tel.: +49 (0)30 338424 570
info∂euki.de
The European Climate Initiative (EUKI):
This project is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). EUKI is a project financing instrument by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The EUKI competition for project ideas is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. It is the overarching goal of the EUKI to foster climate cooperation within the European Union (EU) in order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information on the EUKI: www.euki.de