Polski
FEnIKS (European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment 2021-2027) is a program aimed at building efficient, safe infrastructure with the lowest possible environmental impact, decarbonizing the economy, as well as strengthening the health system and the role of culture in national development. The program’s budget is more than 24 billion euros. On October 31, the call for applications for projects within the framework of the “FEnIKS 2.5: Water for consumption” measure began. What projects will be supported and who can be beneficiaries?
Who can submit proposals?
The beneficiaries may be enterprises pursuing public purposes (water supply and sewerage enterprises within the meaning of Article 2(4) of the Act on Collective Water Supply and Collective Sewage Disposal) and public administration units – local governments. It should be noted here that the FEnIKS program envisages support for water supply projects for municipalities with a population of at least 15,000, while water supply infrastructure development projects must concern the water supply of agglomerations where wastewater management is in compliance with national and EU regulations. The project should be ready for implementation and must not be completed before submitting an application for funding, although it may already have been started. Expenditures subject to support can be from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2029. The project should be completed before that time.
What projects will be considered?
“FEnIKS 2.5: Drinking Water” applies to stand-alone water supply system projects. These can include initiatives to both build and upgrade infrastructure to ensure that the population has access to an adequate quantity of good-quality drinking water. The program is open to projects for the construction and modernization of water intakes, treatment plants, storage and distribution solutions, such as water supply networks, intelligent monitoring systems and others. They can also address ideas related to reducing losses, recovering and reusing water, as well as ensuring the security of its supply and raising the population’s environmental awareness of resource conservation. The FEnIKS 2.5 program has a budget of PLN 300 million, with the minimum amount of funding for a project participating in the call being 500 thousand. PLN.
FEnIKS program – how to apply for funding?
The FEnIKS program includes 110 different activities divided into 8 groups of priorities, which concern: Energy and Environment, Transport, Health and Culture. The activity “FENX.02.05 Drinking water” is included in the priority “FENX.02 ERDF support for the energy and environment sectors.” Projects under each measure should meet both the general objectives of the program, as well as the objectives of the given priority and specific specific objectives. Before submitting an application, make sure that the project meets all the conditions listed above. Applications are accepted by the National Environmental Protection Agency and must be submitted electronically. The application should be prepared in accordance with the instructions and template provided with the regulations, and then submitted through the CST2021 application available on the website. Documents are being accepted from October 31, 2023. By the end of January 2024.
How are projects selected under the FEnIKS program?
First, it is checked whether the submitted project fits in with the stated goals, i.e. whether it could contribute to the country’s sustainable development with low-emission assumptions and environmentally friendly solutions. Then the criteria for evaluating projects are taken into account, which can be consulted in the appendices to the regulations. Some are mandatory (such as the size of the municipality or the resilience of infrastructure to climate change), and some are ranking (such as the use of educational elements). The criteria are evaluated in two stages – after the committee receives a favorable opinion in the first, they can proceed to the next stage. Funding will be awarded to those projects that receive the highest number of points, until the budget is exhausted. The call is scheduled to be resolved in the second or third quarter of 2024.
