Supporting municipalities in Krakow Metropolitan Area to set up energy communities

Municipalities in Poland, as for the rest of Europe, face the broader challenges of the energy transition, including improving energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy sources and strengthening cooperation between municipalities and local stakeholders.

The Krakow Metropolitan Area (KMA) provides a platform for cooperation among 15 municipalities: Kraków and the 14 surrounding municipalities of Biskupice, Czernichów, Igołomia–Wawrzeńczyce, Kocmyrzów–Luborzyca, Liszki, Michałowice, Mogilany, Niepołomice, Skawina, Świątniki Górne, Wieliczka, Wielka Wieś, Zabierzów and Zielonki.

Among the topics of cooperation, the Krakow Metropolitan Area has taken an active facilitating and capacity-building role in the development of energy communities. This role was significantly supported by the COMANAGE project, in which the KMA participated as one of three pilot regions. Before the project, no energy communities existed in the KMA. 

The project provided municipalities and local stakeholders with practical legal and technical tools for establishing and managing such communities, including document templates and tools aimed at improving municipal energy efficiency. As a result of this process, four new municipality-based energy communities were established after the end of the project. 

Tools and technical support for municipalities

A key element of KMA's support has been the establishment and development of the Energy Forum. In 2023, it organised four meetings focused on energy communities, legal aspects, energy poverty, energy demand and citizen involvement. Participants were mainly civil servants and local authorities from the Krakow Metropolitan Area. KMA also invited stakeholders to its Energy Forums and provided municipalities and other interested organisations with access to several tools developed by COMENAGE project, such as an Energy Communities Governance Toolkit (ECGT), the COMANAGE Open Platform (COP), the E-learning course and other project outputs.

KMA also provided access to specialist legal and technical expertise. The legal expert developed practical templates for establishing energy cooperatives, including a model statute, property lease agreements and electricity sale agreements. A legal analysis also examined municipal financial incentives for energy cooperatives and found that the existing incentives were not sufficiently profitable for communities. In parallel, a technical expert developed the Billing Model, addressing the lack of a free tool for settling energy and financial transactions between producers, consumers and the energy cooperative.

Outcomes

All these tools reduced some of the knowledge and administrative barriers faced by municipalities considering collective energy initiatives.

The KMA experience has also generated potential for further replication. KMA has participated in international knowledge exchange activities organised by Metropolis and Co-opAbility and has presented its experience to other members of the Board of Regions. In particular, KMA has explored potential synergies with Warsaw, demonstrating that the pilot is being used as a basis for wider knowledge transfer.

Another important factor was the involvement of local authorities. Since most participants of the Energy Forum were municipal officials and local authorities, the project was closely connected to the institutions that can initiate, coordinate or support local energy projects. The gradual increase in participation also suggests that continued engagement helped broaden interest in the topic.

The development of practical templates was particularly valuable. Instead of requiring every municipality to develop legal and technical solutions independently, reusable models that can provide a starting point for future initiatives were provided.

Lessons learnt and next steps

The main challenges identified are legal, financial, technical and organisational. At the national level the relatively new status of energy communities in Poland creates a knowledge and regulatory challenge. Financial incentives also need to be sufficiently attractive to make collective energy projects economically viable.

The pilot addressed challenges by developing legal templates, technical calculation and billing tools, training materials and expert support. In 2025, KMA planned to continue this work through additional experts focusing on energy community models, energy analysis methodologies and communication with residents affected by energy poverty.

For long-term success and replication, municipalities need access to clear legal guidance, viable financial models, technical expertise and practical tools. They also need mechanisms for cooperation between municipalities and other local stakeholders. Continued knowledge exchange can help ensure that the experience gained in one municipality or region can be transferred to others.

Replication Potential 

The pilot has significant replication potential in Poland and beyond, thanks to its practical tools, international networks, and a deliberate strategy to avoid the "pilot trap", the phenomenon where innovative projects remain small-scale and fail to achieve wider market uptake.

In Poland, the project has laid strong foundations by building administrative capacity and raising awareness in a context where energy communities were still relatively new. The Krakow Metropolitan Area (KMA) developed reusable legal templates for energy cooperatives, including model statutes and agreements, as well as technical tools like a Billing Model for settling transactions. The Energy Forum saw participation grow , engaging civil servants and local authorities who are best positioned to initiate and support new projects. By reducing the need for each municipality to start from scratch, COMANAGE has created a replicable model for other Polish regions.

Beyond Poland, the project has ensured its tools are accessible and adaptable across Europe. All resources, including the Energy Communities Governance Toolkit (ECGT), the e-learning course, and the AI-powered Decision Support System, are open-source and available in multiple languages. This allows other regions to benefit from the project's work without reinventing the wheel. Active knowledge exchange through international networks like Metropolis and Co-opAbility has further amplified the project's reach. 

A key element of the sustainability strategy is the Board of Replicators, a group of 9 external practitioners from Europe and beyond, including cities like Dakar, Senegal, and Johannesburg, South Africa. These practitioners are already testing, challenging, and adapting the tools to their own contexts, proving that the model can be adapted to very different regulatory and economic environments.

Krakow Metropolitan Area, Poland

Stage of implementation: Almost operational

 

Type of Activities

Energy sharing

Energy Figures

Total capacity installed:  304,5 kWh (in 4 EC)

Type of support from the Municipality

• Facilitation: setting targets,vworkshops, and permits
• Support: access to public roofs/land, and administrative support
• Direct involvement: promoter of the energy community

Additional information

• https://comanage.spindoxlabs.com/cop 
• https://comanage.aisforacademy.eu/