Buildings of municipal units in Warsaw are to be equipped with photovoltaic installations over the next eight years. In the first three years, the capital will spend 60 million zlotys for this purpose. This is the beginning of a photovoltaic development program in Warsaw.
The activities of the city hall officially begin the Urban Photovoltaic Development Program, which is the implementation of one of the recommendations of the Warsaw Climate Panel. Implementation of the assumptions developed by the panel is expected to bring the city closer to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. By the end of the ongoing decade, all buildings belonging to the city hall and city units, are to be equipped with solar panels.
lower emissions and savings
Photo: UM Warsaw
Officials anticipate that the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions - by 2030, the capital's CO2 emissions will drop by a total of nearly 87,000 tons, the amount consumed by nearly 20,000 hectares of forest. An additional benefit for the city is financial savings - in 2022-2030, thanks to the panels, they will total more than PLN 70 million. The program will also increase Warsaw's energy security.
millions for panels
In recent days, the Warsaw City Council, as part of the Long-Term Financial Forecast, decided to allocate PLN 60 million for the implementation of the photovoltaic program in 2022-2024. The investments realized during this period will more than double the city's power generation capacity - from the current 9.3 to 21.3 MW.
nurseries first
The first to be equipped with photovoltaic installations will be the city's nurseries - such devices are already operating on the roofs of six institutions. Thanks to the program, however, over the next two years they will appear on roofs in another 47 locations. By the end of 2023, all establishments are expected to benefit from solar energy. Next in line are schools, clinics and hospitals, community centers and social welfare centers. Infrastructure facilities such as Park&Ride parking lots and bus depots will also derive part of their energy from the sun.
Not only urban
Photo: Warsaw City Hall
Currently, photovoltaic panels are already successfully installed in more than 140 city buildings. The largest installations are on the premises of the Municipal Water and Sewage Company - their total capacity is 6.7 MW. The capital is also encouraging its residents to invest in renewable energy sources. Between 2017 and 2021 alone, the city provided Warsaw residents with subsidies for the installation of photovoltaics in the amount of more than PLN 50 million, which allowed the creation of installations with a total capacity of 34.6 MW in more than 4,400 locations.
it works
Warsaw is following in the footsteps of other cities that have been operating similar installations for some time. The 60,000-strong city of Starachowice, which has installed panels on the roofs of schools. For some of them, this has allowed them to meet almost all of their annual electricity needs. In turn, the next investments are expected to bring the city closer to energy self-sufficiency, as Marek Materek, the city's mayor, recently told architekturaibiznes.pl in an interview .
