The European Commission (EC) has given the green light to a €1.2bn ($1.32bn) Polish scheme designed to bolster investments in electricity storage facilities.

The initiative is set to support the installation of at least 5.4GW of new electricity storage capacity.

Approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), the scheme aligns with the commission’s objectives, as set out on 9 March 2023, and subsequently amended on 20 November 2023 and 2 May 2024.

The Polish government notified the commission of its intent to utilise the TCTF for this purpose.

The funding for the scheme will come from a combination of the Modernisation Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, following the EC’s positive assessment of Poland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and its formal adoption by the European Council.

The primary goal of the scheme is to minimise Poland’s electricity system’s dependence on fossil fuels and to enhance the integration of variable renewable energy sources into the national grid.

This will be achieved by supporting the construction of new electricity storage facilities.

Eligibility for support under this scheme is restricted to newly installed storage facilities with a minimum capacity of 4MW.

These facilities must be connected to either the distribution or transmission networks at all voltage levels to ensure a broad impact on the Polish electricity system.

The selection of projects for the scheme will be carried out by Poland through a competitive call for proposals.

Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president of competition policy, said: “With this €1.2bn scheme Poland can deploy additional electricity storage capacity.

“By facilitating the integration of renewables into the electricity system, the scheme will make the Polish energy mix greener and reduce its reliance on imports of fossil fuels from Russia, in line with the EU climate and energy targets, while minimising any potential distortions to competition.”

In August this year, EC awarded €998m to a Dutch initiative aimed at boosting green hydrogen production.