The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an advisory agreement with Poland’s State Water Management Authority, Wody Polskie, to support the development of new hydropower capacity in the country.
The two-year collaboration will assess major hydropower investments in Silesia and Lesser Poland, two regions that have traditionally relied heavily on fossil fuel production.
Under the EIB’s TARGET technical assistance programme, Wody Polskie will receive technical, financial and environmental support to evaluate three potential hydropower plants at existing hydraulic structures.
The work is intended to help prepare the proposed projects to European standards and identify potential sources of implementation funding. No details of the three locations or their prospective generating capacities have yet been released.
“The agreement with the European Investment Bank marks a significant step towards putting Poland’s hydropower potential to modern and responsible use,” said Mateusz Balcerowicz, president of Wody Polskie.
“The TARGET programme gives us access to top-tier technical, environmental, and economic expertise, enabling us to prepare projects meeting European standards and to effectively secure funding for implementation. This is an investment in national energy security through the development of renewable energy sources that also strengthen the potential of regions undergoing just transition.”
TARGET – Technical Assistance for a Green Energy Transition – is a joint European Commission and EIB initiative. It supports EU regions traditionally associated with coal, peat and oil shale production in identifying and preparing clean energy and energy efficiency projects.
EIB vice-president Marko Primorac said the collaboration with Wody Polskie was aimed at developing renewable energy resources that could contribute to security of supply, energy affordability and climate action.
Wody Polskie manages more than 185,000km of watercourses and operates and maintains nearly 32,800 hydrotechnical facilities across Poland. Its responsibilities include water management planning, infrastructure investment, issuing water permits and implementing the EU Water Framework Directive.
The advisory agreement was announced alongside a separate PLN85 million (€20 million) EIB loan to Poland’s National Centre for Nuclear Research for new scientific infrastructure.
