Polish Development Bank (BGK) – RIDW

This investment loan, backed by the InvestEU guarantee and implemented by the Polish Development Bank, aims to support Polish businesses by providing financing for projects that stimulate economic growth and innovation. The guarantee reduces the risk for the bank, enabling it to offer more favourable loan terms and support investments in areas such as infrastructure, digitalisation, and sustainable development.

Programme name

Investment Loan with the InvestEU guarantee implemented by the Polish Development Bank (BGK)

Objective(s) and scope

Commission and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) aims to mobilise investments in the Research, Innovation and Digitisation Window (RIDW) of the InvestEU programme, as an implementing partner of the InvestEU programme. In this context, BGK loan can cover up to 50%* of the total investment cost, of which 50% can be secured by the InvestEU guarantee.

The main objectives of SIW are digitalisation (including strategic digital and key enabling technologies and sustainable ICT) and innovative projects (including clean energy and low carbon innovations, circular economy, bioeconomy, nature-based solutions, sustainable blue economy, space and defence, healthcare and smart cities).

Type of finance provider

Public

Administering body

Polish Development Bank (BGK)

Financing product

Investment Loan with the InvestEU guarantee

Financing value

Loan amount: up to 50% [*] of the total investment costs.

EU Guarantee amount: 50% of the loan amount together with interest.

[*] This level can be increased up to 70 % of the total costs of the Operation for the High Policy Value Added Operations, which either:

are Green; or fall under Sections B.5, B.6 or B.7 of the Research and Innovation Priority Areas; or demonstrate other means of high policy value added in the policy check process;
and ensure the attraction of additional private resources.

Eligible countries

Poland

Eligibility criteria (if available)

SMEs, mid-caps, SPVs, project companies, public sector entities (e.g. public hospitals, universities and research centres) - based in Poland

Further information on eligibility criteria

The Operations shall fall under at least one of the following policy objectives:

A) Digitalisation Priority Areas:

The digitisation priorities include the development, deployment and scaling-up of digital technologies and services, especially digital technologies and services, including media, online service platforms and secure digital communication.

A.1 Strategic digital technologies

a) High Performing Computing and Quantum Technologies;
b) Data platforms and highly specialised cloud services;
c) Components (photonics, electronics and advanced chip design, semiconductors etc.);
d) Cybersecurity and blockchain;
e) AI & robotics;
f) IoT, 5G & beyond, edge computing, Industry 4.0-ready digital technologies; and
g) Other advanced digital technologies and services.

A.2 Key enabling technologies

a) Digitisation of manufacturing industry;
b) Circular manufacturing; and
c) Integration of additive manufacturing with well-established technologies, ensuring repeatability and reproducibility of Additive Manufacturing processes, and digitisation of additive manufacturing.

A.3 Sustainable ICT

Access to finance in the area of green Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and digital climate technologies. This includes research, innovation and deployment projects that either demonstrate a potential to achieve a significant reduction or avoidance of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions as compared to currently used technologies/business models or systematically use technologies leading to a significant GHG emission reduction. The following areas are envisaged:

a) Solutions for reducing the energy consumption of digital devices, components and processes, including novel computing architectures, energy efficient data platforms and data flows, software defined infrastructures for workload balancing optimisation, energy efficient supercomputing, energy efficient AI and blockchain algorithms;
b) Increasing the lifespan of digital devices and improving the circular performance of ICT sector;
c) Novel digital climate technologies (Mission earth): supercomputing for improved earth observation and climate change modelling, real time data gathering and analysis on carbon emissions with blockchain innovations; and
d) Digital solutions for precision agriculture, digitalisation of decarbonised grids, big data solutions for energy, etc.

B) Research and Innovation Priority Areas:

B.1 Clean energy and low carbon innovation:

Innovative, early demonstration projects/companies targeting non-mature technologies/business models/ manufacturing plants on:

a) Renewable energy (including renewable fuels), H2/fuel cells/electrolysers, storage, heating and cooling, smart energy systems, and carbon capture, transport, storage and/or use (CCS-CCU);
b) Energy efficiency: innovative up-scaling and industrialisation of building renovation solutions; demonstration of technological innovations linked to new business models; innovative measures for social housing and/or low-income households to eradicate energy poverty;
c) Combination/integration of the points above (e.g. smart integration of distributed renewable energy production and storage).

B.2 Low-carbon technologies and processes, as well as products substituting carbon intensive ones, in sectors listed in Annex I of the Directive 2003/87/EC .

B.3 Space and defence:

For Space:

a) Deployment of digital applications and services based on space data; integration space data and services into innovative products in other market segments, e.g. autonomous vehicles or connectivity networks; scaling up the commercial deployment and manufacturing of space technology;
b) Development and operation of space infrastructure (space upstream): activities including building/operating satellites or other orbiting devices, launching systems, as well as control infrastructure; both upstream (i.e. the development of systems and space infrastructures) and downstream (e.g. the development of product/solutions/applications based on EU space technologies and linked to EU policies (e.g. regulated use of space-based technologies, in transport, security, climate-change, etc.).

For Defence:

Research, development and innovation of dual-use technologies and equipment, including in the areas of:

a) Cyber, space, air, ground, naval and underwater systems;
b) Medical response, chemical biological radiological nuclear, biotech and human factors;
c) Secure communications including control, communications and computing (C4), intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR);
d) Advanced passive and active sensors (such as optronics and radars systems); and
e) Simulation and training.

B.4 Circular economy:

Investments targeting technological, business, governance or social innovations that accelerate the transition to a circular economy focusing on high impact segments of value chains:

a) Material selection, product design (for durability, reparability and recyclability) and substitution, including alternatives to raw materials;
b) Production, manufacturing and consumption;
c) Optimised after-use system, incorporating reuse, collection, sorting and new forms of recycling including the valorisation of biomass and waste streams into bio-based products;
d) Cross-value chain collaboration;
e) Instruments to trigger changes in consumer and production behaviour, including digital solutions;
f) Advanced circular water systems in agricultural and industrial sectors; or
g) Innovative methods for tracking, tracing and mapping products, components and materials that would provide data, for example in the form of a product passport, enabling the above goals a) – f) as well as new circular business models.

Sectorial focus (throughout the life cycle of products/materials) for strategic areas for circular economy: e.g. textiles, plastics, construction, food, ICT electronics, mobility.

B.5 Bioeconomy:

a) Sustainability proofing food systems, value chains, and supply chains and modernising primary production;
b) Circular economy technologies and new business models incl. digitisation, which enable resource efficiency and supply chain optimisation, re-use, reduction and recycling of waste streams as well as carbon capture;
c) Technologies for biomass/feedstock processing;
d) Bio-based chemicals and materials.

Out of scope: pharmaceuticals sectors.

B.6 Nature-based solutions, natural capital and green infrastructure: Innovative approaches to conservation, restoration, enhancement and sustainable management of natural capital and ecosystems, either terrestrial, freshwater or marine, e.g. through Nature-Based Solutions and ecosystem-based approaches; such approaches can be relevant for many sectors both environmental (waste, water etc.) and non-environmental ones (forestry, agriculture, transport, energy etc).

B.7 Sustainable blue economy:

a) Innovative multipurpose offshore platforms combining several sustainable blue economy activities such as sustainable aquaculture and marine renewables;
b) Enabling technologies for environmental and ocean observation, exploration and monitoring;
c) Production and processing of low-trophic level species through aquaculture.

With the exception of Space, for the above points, projects/companies shall have the potential to significantly contribute to at least one of the following impacts:

• climate change mitigation (considering the technology/business model characteristics and the replicability potential);
• climate change adaptation and/or disaster risk reduction;
• deploy demand response or flexible generation;
• support the integration of higher shares of variable renewable energy sources;
• sustainable use, protection, or restoration of natural ecosystems and biodiversity, including water or marine.

B.8 Research, development, innovation in the health sector:

a) Research, development, innovation and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical devices, diagnostics and advanced therapy medicinal products and new antimicrobials, as well as innovative development processes that avoid using animal testing;
b) Operations supporting the competitiveness of the Union pharmaceutical industry as a whole, including production of chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients;
c) Investment in late stage clinical trials, clinical validation and market entry for:
- (i) therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases;
- (ii) new effective therapies for rare diseases;
- (iii) new treatments for sepsis;
- (iv) cell and gene-based advanced therapies;
- (v) new interventions for refractory cancers across all age groups (paediatric/adolescents/TYA, adults, adults >70) and taking into account gender/sex issues (e.g. brain and colorectal cancer are different in men-women) – treatment, palliative care, end-of-life care;
- (vi) new interventions for public health emergencies (such as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) according to the World Health Organization, a public health emergency under Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 or under applicable national frameworks and regulations; i.e. COVID-19 in 2020).

B.9 Smart Cities – innovations in specific fields of urban development:

a) Integrated Infrastructures and Processes;
b) Sustainable Urban Mobility;
c) Business Models and Finance;
d) Sustainable Districts and Built Environment;
e) Citizen Focus;
f) Integrated Planning and Management, performance indicators and metrics;
g) Knowledge Sharing.

B.10 Creative Industries – innovation in the areas:

a) Expanding of the creative and cultural sector based on innovative solutions, new technologies (i.e. e-sport; gaming industry; new media);
b) Inventing a way to incorporate innovative solutions, new technologies into the traditional creative and cultural sector (i.e. MORI Building – digital art museum; holographic theatre).

B.11 Support for research and innovation investments by research institutes, universities and research organisations

a) JTM might apply to projects in regions under JTM or in case of projects that have impact on regions under JTM.

Operations falling under this Financial Product, which do not fall under Articles 3.2(a) or 3.2(c) shall comply with the relevant conditions set out under Article 56d and Article 56e paragraphs (1), (9) and (10) of the GBER, including applicable thresholds, as specified under the ‘Minimum and maximum principal amount of Operations’ part of this Product Schedule.