The Bilateral Cooperation Fund Framework Strategy
For the Operational Program PL04
"Saving energy and promoting renewable energy source"
Within the EEA and Norwegian Grants 2009-2014
I. Introduction
The Strategy establishes the framework for the Bilateral Cooperation Fund at the programme level for PL04 “Saving energy and promoting renewable energy source" within the EEA and Norwegian Grants 2009-2014.
The Bilateral Cooperation Fund, at the programme level, has been established in order to facilitate and strengthen cooperation between project promoters and their partner(s) and other entities from the Donor States, as well as between authorities and organizations in the Donor States and the Beneficiary States.
This Bilateral Framework Strategy has been elaborated by the Programme Operator in close cooperation with the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management as well as in cooperation with the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) and in consultations with the National Focal Point.
All bilateral activities/events to be organized under the strategy will be planed, agreed and launched by the Programme Operator in close cooperation with the NVE. The Program Operator and NVE will set up an agreement that describes NVE's roles and responsibilities in implementation of bilateral tasks/activities.
II. Legal basis.
The Bilateral Framework Strategy complies with following documents:
1. Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the Donor States (Iceland, The Principality of Liechtenstein and The Kingdom of Norway) on one hand, and the Beneficiary State (the Republic of Poland) on the other hand, signed on 17th June 2011;
2. Regulation on the implementation of the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism 2009-2014, confirmed by the Standing Committee of the EFTA States on 18 January 2011 with subsequent changes;
3. Programme Agreement for PL04 " Saving energy and promoting renewable energy source " within the EEA and Norwegian Grants 2009-2014,
4. Guideline for strengthened bilateral relations.
III. The Plan for the use of the fund
The Bilateral Cooperation Fund shall be used in order to facilitate exchange of experience, knowledge, technology and best practise between Beneficiaries and entities from the Donor States. This will happen in the context between government agencies, between potential project partners as well as in the context of several authorities, organisations and other stakeholders gathers together. This skills development will lead to increased competence in both donor and recipient countries, and cooperation under the program with partners also from donor countries.
Thematic fields for bilateral cooperation have been proposed by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate and further structured and processed by the Program Operator. There will be flexibility in the use of the fund as long as it is within limits for the program areas 5 and 6. Through initiatives and events Poland and the Donors will also have the opportunity to contribute together to highlight the development of common priority areas in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
Below, it is identified some potential interesting areas for bilateral cooperation supporting the program, sorted by three outcomes of the Programme PL04:
· Improved energy efficiency in buildings,
· Increased awareness of and education in energy efficiency,
· Increased renewable energy production in relation to buildings.
In general terms implementation of the bilateral strategy through organization of various activities and events will contribute in a broader scope to relation building between public authorities in Poland and Norway in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Areas for bilateral cooperation to support the program implementation, sorted by Programme’s outcomes
Outcome 1: Improved energy efficiency in buildings
Areas for cooperation:
· Common EU regulations, directives and plans related to 20-20-20 targets in Europe.
· National regulations, standards, strategies and politics in relevant areas in Poland and Norway.
· European and national experiences, best practice, approaches, trends and analyses in relevant areas.
· European and national technologies and know how in relevant areas.
· Projects focused on buildings following the nearly zero energy building principle
Who to cooperate:
Relevant Ministries, Directorates, public funds, other public authorities and organizations or public owned entities, Warsaw Technical University, with responsibilities in the areas of energy efficiency, in particular from the Donor States side:
· Government:
o Direktoratet for byggkvalitet (DIBK) are responsible for setting the path towards nearly zero energy buildings by 2020. Polish authorities face the same challenge from the EPBD.
o NVE are responsible for the energy labeling scheme for buildings. Interesting experiences can be shared from calculation methods, information campaigns and control mechanisms.
o Enova is running number of support programs for energy efficiency in buildings.
o Government buildings. Both Statsbygg and Entra have business experiences from both designing and administration of public buildings.
o Other relevant Donor States governmental entities.
· Local administration:
o All municipalities have their own experiences from own buildings. Largest are probably Oslo with their companies Undervisningsbygg and Omsorgsbygg, both have clear strategies on energy efficiency.
o Other relevant Donor States municipalities.
· Other organizations:
o Norwegian (new) standard for passive houses, adapted to Norwegian conditions.
o Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
o Other relevant Donor States entities.
Form of cooperation: conferences, workshops, seminars, study visits focused on energy efficiency in buildings and energy management in buildings, bilateral experts’ panels for projects related to nearly zero energy buildings. The above mentioned forms of cooperation aim at:
(a) Exchange of best practice, experience and results from projects, information campaigns.
(b) Relation building between relevant public authorities in Poland and Norway regarding energy efficiency.
Definition of requirements for projects related to nearly zero energy buildings:
The projects related to nearly zero energy buildings are to be selected among applications submitted and approved in the open call for proposals launched for the Programme.
The selection of projects related to nearly zero energy buildings will follow standard evaluation procedure adopted for the Programme. The bilateral Polish Norwegian panel of experts’ from Warsaw technical University and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) will be responsible for appointment of projects related to nearly zero energy buildings using inter alia requirements stipulated the EU Directives including EPBT Directive).
The buildings within the projects related to nearly zero energy buildings should follow, according to requirements stipulated the EU Directive 2010/31/UE, the nearly zero energy building principle (nZEB) and the principle of sustainable development. Additionally to high level of CO2 reduction and high economic efficiency the projects related to nearly zero energy buildings should demonstrate quality of being innovative (innovativeness).
As institutions from Poland and the Donor States are working on such definition the activity is dedicated to define a common understanding of nZEB to be used as a benchmark of demo buildings.
Outcome 2: Increased awareness of and education in energy efficiency
Areas for cooperation:
Cooperation is suitable within the predefined project. The Project Promoter is the Department of Environmental Information within the structure of the Ministry of Environment.
Project title: Educational and promotional activities in the field of energy efficiency and use of renewable energy including the environmentally friendly houses
Description: The project consists of a nation-wide educational campaign on energy saving in households and proportion of efficient use of energy and renewable energy. The objective is to increase awareness and education of energy efficiency.
Who to cooperate:
Relevant Ministries, Directorates and public organizations with responsibilities in the areas of education in energy efficiency and renewable energy, from the Donor States side in particular:
· Enova has been pioneers in stimulating the interest of children in energy matters. “Regnmakerne” has also received international attention. Enova has also experience from managing support programs where education and awareness raising are important parameters.
· NVE are responsible for the energy labeling scheme for buildings. Interesting experiences can be shared from calculation methods, information campaigns and control mechanisms.
· DIBK and “Lavenergiprogrammet” are involved in the European Build up Skills, to stimulate education in building techniques for energy efficient buildings.
· Other relevant Donor States entities.
Form of cooperation: conferences, workshops, seminars, study visits focused on education in energy efficiency
Information and education on the users’ side has been important since the first energy efficiency programs. Education of operators has been succeeded by education in energy management.
Outcome 3: Increased renewable energy production in buildings
Areas for cooperation:
· Common EU regulations, directives and targets for renewable energy production in Europe.
· European and national experiences and best practice in RES area.
· European and national technologies and know how in RES areas.
Who to cooperate:
Relevant Ministries, Directorates, Public funds, other public authorities and organizations, public owned entities with responsibilities in the areas of renewable energy production, from Norwegian side in particular:
· District Heating (Norsk Fjernvarme, Hafslund etc.)
· Advanced wood stoves for room heating; Sintef, Jøtul.
· Use of wood for energy; Norsk bioenergiforening, a number of companies serving biofuel market.
· Biogas production; Cambi (technology), regional establishments
· Wind energy (Norsk vindenergiforening, Sintef, Kjeller vindteknikkk, Statkraft etc.)
· Solar energy industry; silicon production, PV systems, solar heating systems
· Norwegian licensing system for renewable projects (NVE).
· Other relevant Donor States entities
From Icelandic side in particular:
· Geothermal energy (Orkustofnun)
Form of cooperation: study visits focused on new renewable technologies.
IV. The set-up of the fund
1. Eligible activities
Activities mentioned in this strategy, inter alia such as: conferences, seminars, workshops, study tours, information and promotion activities, relevant studies and analysis are considered to be eligible.
2. Eligible entities
There are following potential groups of eligible entities:
· All relevant Polish and Donor States entities involved in planning and organization of joint bilateral activities/events and included as participants.
· Beneficiary of predefined project and its’ Donor partners.
· All project promoters who have submitted their application under an open call for proposals (launched for the investment part of the Programme) whose applications were positively assessed and who wish to take part in the bilateral activities/ events organized for them by the Programme Operator in cooperation with the NVE.
3. Eligible costs
The categories of expenditure described in Article. 7.7 of the EEA Regulations are eligible for the Bilateral Cooperation Fund with the following exceptions.
The external consultancy fees and purchase of data necessary for the preparation of the application are eligible for projects related to nearly zero energy buildings only.
Eligible are additional costs related to achieve standard of the nearly zero energy building (applicable to chosen projects related to nearly zero energy buildings. Travel costs include subsistence allowance in accordance with paragraph 1(b) of Article 7.3.
Costs incurred by Polish and Donor organisations under the strategy directly related to approved by the Programme Operator bilateral activities/ events are eligible and will be covered from the Programme Cooperation Fund. Provision for reimbursement of costs will be determined by the Program Operator. All rules of non-eligibility of costs stipulated in the EEA Regulations are applied.
The applicable rules on public procurement shall be complied with.
4. Implementation of the strategy
There will be no calls for proposals under this part of the Bilateral Cooperation Fund.
All bilateral activities/ events to be organized under the strategy will be planed, agreed and launched by the Programme Operator in close cooperation with the NVE. To implement the bilateral strategy the Program Operator and NVE will set up a partnership agreement that describe NVE's roles and responsibilities in implementation of bilateral tasks/activities.
For the part of the bilateral activities organized by the Programme Operator suitable eligible entities will be targeted, informed and recruited in order to take part in tailored events. To precede smoothly with organization of planned study tours, the Programme Operator will launch a public procurement in order to select a study tour operator responsible for logistics.
For the part of the bilateral cooperation under the Predefined Project, the detailed plan and budget for all activities/ events to be covered from the Bilateral Cooperation Fund shall be elaborated by the Predefined Project Promoter with its’ Donor partner and submitted for approval to the Programme Operator.
For the part of the projects related to nearly zero energy buildings, the Programme Operator will formulate detailed rules and procedures as well as organize and supervise a suitable appointment and awarding process. Polish-Norwegian technical experts’ panel will be established in order to appoint and award the projects related to nearly zero energy buildings in line with adopted criteria. The experts’ panel will be composed of experienced engineers and researchers recruited from Warsaw Technical University and Trondheim Technical University. As a final result, apart from nomination of projects related to nearly zero energy buildings in different categories, the panel will formulate vital technical recommendations for Polish projects related to nearly zero energy buildings. Moreover, contacts between Polish and Norwegian designers and managers of nearly zero energy buildings will be established.
V. The budget of the fund
The original budget allocated for the Bilateral Cooperation Fund of the Programme PL04 is 1,323,529 Euros, i.e. 1.5% of all eligible expenses initially allocated for the Programme PL04. The amount of 1,125,000 Euros comes from the EEA Financial Mechanism and the amount of 198,529 Euro comes from the Programme Operator budget.
The eligible cost of each activity/event will be covered in 100% from the Programme budget. The EEA Financial Mechanism will constitute 85% of eligible expenditures and the Programme Operator’s contribution will constitute 15% of eligible expenditures.
The Program Operator will set up a detailed budget by activity within each of the three outcomes described in the section III.
Addendum to the approved Bilateral Cooperation Fund Framework Strategy for PL04
I. Introduction
Following the reallocation of funding from the Programme PL11 ‘Carbon Capture and Storage’, under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, to the Programme PL04 ‘Saving Energy and Promoting Renewable Energy Source’, under the EEA Financial Mechanism, the grant amount for PL04 was increased by €70 million and the bilateral fund by €1.2 million.