Background
The greenhouse gas inventory conducted in Warsaw every two years shows that nearly three quarters of Warsaw’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the production and consumption of electricity and thermal energy in buildings. Therefore, actions concerning the energy sector are key to achieving climate goals. Since 2013, the City of Warsaw (responsible unit: Infrastructure Department) has been implementing a programme to monitor the management of electricity, heating, gas and water, and the cost of their consumption, together with the scoping of measures to improve the efficiency of energy use in more than 2,000 city buildings, and has been implementing an Energy Management System for three years. However, the complex organisational structure of the City and the diversity of organisational units create many barriers to carrying out these tasks effectively and efficiently.
For the reasons given above, the creation of an entity such as the Municipal Energy Agency to coordinate all multifaceted municipal activities in the energy sector is key to carrying out a successful transformation. In this regard, it will be crucial to pay explicit attention to how the new Agency would interact with the City to actively overcome these complex organisational and stricutral issuers (and the barriers they generate to effective and efficient deliviery) – for example, authority it should have with respect to policy and resources/deployment, etc., to ensure the creation of the Muncipal Energy Agency doesn’t merely replicate the same structural/organisational issues through amere centralising and coordination function.
The creation of the establishment of the Municipal Energy Agency, the city will reduce greenhouse gas emissions much faster and more efficiently in the stationary (energy and buildings) sector, which is responsible for more than 70% of the city’s emissions. This gives a great opportunity to meet the goals of the Climate City Contract in the area of the districts covered by it, which the agency would serve first (the estimated emission reduction for them is 1 390 kton).
The agency’s activities would allow it to speed up operations such as:
- Increasing the energy efficiency of city buildings (both commercial and residential),
- Increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy balance of city units,
- Stimulating business, residents and other entities to take action in favour of energy efficiency and the replacement of energy sources with zero-emission ones,
- Cooperation with energy companies independent of the city for the energy transition.
Tested on two districts of Warsaw, the concept of the Municipal Energy Agency will be replicable not only in the rest of the capital, but also in other cities of Poland and Europe, influencing the effectiveness of the energy transition.
About the request
The City Expert Support Facility (CESF), through NetZeroCities / Climate-KIC, are requesting proposals for an implementation concept of a Municipal Energy Agency in the support for Mission and CCC activities in the City of Warsaw, Poland. The Municipal Energy Agency which will be responsible for implementing city strategies and plans of achieving climate neutrality in the energy sector and implementing energy efficiency programmes for both private and municipal buildings. It will work to implement cost-effective energy saving measures for both residents and businesses.
In its initial phase, it will mainly work to increase the efficiency of municipal energy operations in the Climate City Contract (CCC) districts, developing scalable solutions and testing them in a limited area. Ultimately, the agency will serve the entire city, using the developed and verified solutions and practices.
The implementation concept should include an analysis of the potential and feasibility of organising such a entity, its recommended organisational models and legal form, its mandate and authority with respect to policy innovation/levers and resources/deployment, and an implementation scenario with an estimation of the resources needed.
Having an implementation concept would be a crucial support step for the decision-making process of the city authorities regarding the establishment of the Municipal Energy Agency and giving it an optimal form in relation to the tasks and objectives it will have to fulfil. Some of the expected tasks of the agency are detailed below:
- Assumes responsibility for planning for and procuring clean and renewable energy from diverse sources: photovoltaics, wind, biogas, green hydrogen, low-temperature geothermal energy.
- Implementation of the energy efficiency program for both private and city-owned buildings.
- Working on a performance-based contract to pursue cost-effective energy efficiency measures for citizens and businesses.
- Proposing/developing policy initaitives/innovation and strategic resource deployment in concert with its own mandate and authority (whatever this might eventually be).
- Implementation of city strategies and plans of achieving climate neutrality in the energy sector, with particular emphasis on the development of local energy ownership (“prosumerism”).
- Support implementation of the initiatives related to building a system of urban “energy islands”. The “islands” will be created in small areas and will consist of several urban units powered by their own energy source.
- Responsibility for the implementation of activities supporting the city’s pursuit of neutrality in the field of energy, gradual independence from centralized energy (fossil-dominated) and the implementation of solutions enabling the reduction of energy consumption.
- Conducting inventories and audits as well as gathering technical knowledge to implement the most rational solutions.
- Data mapping which will enable visualization of the current energy consumption in the urban environment and take action to improve energy savings. It will allow assessment of the real energy demand of the city and its individual areas.
- Seek to obtain a license to generate renewable energy sources and manage renewable energy installations in Warsaw.
- Selling green energy from RES at preferential and stable prices to public and social housing residents who use electricity-based appliances to heat their flats and heat their domestic water.
- Coordinating the purchase of energy (gradually increasing the share of green, certified energy) for the city’s needs.
- Coordinating of the city’s cooperation with energy distributors and producers.
- Leading and coordinating the Agency and city’s external engagement with citizens and other stakeholders.
- Leading energy programmes and initiatives, certifications and building audits.
- Coordination of projects within the CCC, in the energy sector.
- Developing educational and consulting programs for residents and local government officials in the areas of energy, energy transition, energy efficiency.
A variant implementation concept would make it possible to verify and bring down to an operational level the vision of this unit described in the Green Vision of Warsaw, which will greatly facilitate its efficient establishment.
Please find all further relevant information including key tasks, foreseen timeline, full detailed scope, out of scope, milestones, and all related information below.
Timeline and additional information
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals by 17 July 2025 to Luisa Carretti and Mateusz Hoffman [CESF@netzerocities.eu]. Proposals should include and address all specific requirements related to the request which can be found below.
