German-Polish cooperation agreement signed

The energy transition cannot succeed without European cooperation. With this in mind, the Polish National Energy Saving Agency (KAPE) and the German Energy Agency (dena) have signed a cooperation agreement. Through the German-Polish Energy Platform, they are promoting the exchange of experience and the joint development and implementation of energy system transformation projects in the border region.

 

Berlin/Warsaw, 17 November 2022: The German Energy Agency (dena) and the Polish National Energy Saving Agency (KAPE) have agreed to work more closely together in future. On Wednesday, the Managing Director of dena, Kristina Haverkamp, and the Deputy Chairwoman of KAPE, Mariola Zmudzinska, signed a cooperation agreement to this effect in Warsaw. The agreement aims to bring together stakeholders and expertise as part of the German-Polish Energy Platform, and to promote understanding of the energy transition through cross-border projects. The two energy agencies are therefore combining their expertise to advance projects in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energies, system integration, infrastructure, and energy market design.

Kristina Haverkamp, dena's Managing Director, said, “The European energy transition is a mammoth task and requires consistent rethinking in many areas. For this transformation to succeed, we need cross-border cooperation. Cooperating with KAPE will help us strengthen the exchange of technical expertise and encourage public involvement in the energy transition.”

Sebastian Bodzenta, CEO of KAPE, said, “Close, systematic and trusting cooperation is the basis for the realisation of complex tasks — and that is exactly what the energy transition is. The partnership between the energy agencies of Poland and Germany enables a better understanding of the respective challenges, allowing for faster and more precise action.”

Mariola Zmudzinska, Deputy Chairwoman of the KAPE Management Board, said, 'KAPE has been implementing projects in international and bilateral partnerships for many years. Such partnerships facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience, and above all, strengthen the process of necessary change.’

The German-Polish Energy Platform was launched at the end of 2021 by dena and KAPE on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. The shared objectives are ambitious: ranging from sharing experiences on the transformation of energy systems and developing innovative cross-border solutions, to engaging local stakeholders and strengthening European cooperation within the Weimar Triangle. A concept for a cross-border energy region is to be finalised by the end of 2022. To promote mutual understanding of respective energy policy priorities, the first German-Polish Energy Transition Forum, involving stakeholders from ministries, industry, and academia, is scheduled for early 2023 in Warsaw.