Polish water sector

The Polish government is focusing investments on the water sector, which poses a great opportunity for Danish companies. Investments are being channelled to solve challenges within water resources, water supply, wastewater treatment, and climate adaptation. All areas where Danish companies have solutions and where Denmark has strong experiences. The new Danish export strategy for the water sector ensured that the embassy in Warsaw has been strengthened with new competencies

and resources in order to support Danish companies and Polish utilities and authorities striving towards a more sustainable water sector.

Poland is one of the most pressured countries in the EU in terms of water scarcity. Ranked relative to other countries, it resides over the 4^th lowest freshwater resource per inhabitant. This means that water losses and water resource management is a key priority to ensure economic activity
in industry and agriculture and the drinking water resource. The drought in 2018 cost the Polish economy €550 million. A new plan was launched
at the beginning of 2022 allocating €2.58 billion to ensure water resource management.

The Polish water sector has taken significant strides in the last two decades to reach compliance with the EU directives. There is still need for further investments to reach compliance with the drinking water directive and the urban wastewater directive. The Polish government is ready to take
the needed measures. It has allocated €6.5 billion to wastewater networks and treatment plants. It has furthermore allocated €9.5 billion to water supply investments. The rising energy prices is causing and increased focus on energy optimization and energy production opportunities.
The pressure on water resources is furthermore increasing the incentive
to reduce water loss. Existing systems are ageing and there is a need
to renew systems in an economically efficient way. We have unique technologies and experiences in Denmark to assist with all of the above.

Climate change is forcing Polish cities to invest in flood protection measures and climate adaptation of sewers.
The flood in 2010 cost the Polish economy €2.8 billion and recent floods in Central Europe only underlined the need for investments. The 44 largest cities in Poland have created climate adaptation plans and are looking to use the investments
to increase liveability of cities. Danish companies have already assisted
in this process, and there are no reasons why Danish competencies should not continue in supporting the Polish climate adaptation initiative.

EU funds have been an important factor in the investments in the Polish water sector. It is however not central. Poland has been able to finance 80% of previous water sector investments with national and local funds including utility tariffs. And as the previous investment plans indicates
it is willing to do the same again. The EU recovery fund only makes up
a fraction of the total planned investments. This indicates a smoother decision process anchored closer to the local end users.

The water sector initiative in Poland is part of a larger EU project called Water Technology Advisory EU. The Trade Council in Poland is thus able
to draw upon the skills of four sector experts based around Europe,
and seven senior commercial advisors. The team is made up complimenting specialists who have deep expertise within different parts of the water sector including financing. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency is closely linked to the initiative and will ensure a close collaboration and knowledge exchange with Polish authorities.

We are currently looking to form strategic business alliances,
and interested companies are more than welcome to contact: 

Thor Danielsen, Sector Expert, at [email protected] to hear more about how we can assist you.