The costs of building an incinerator are very high. The market determines the prices, and local governments must adapt

• Koszalin, or rather the local Municipal Economy Enterprise, received PLN 200 million in subsidies and loans from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management for the construction of an incineration plant.
• However, the offers submitted in tenders by potential contractors exceed the financial capabilities of the local government.
• The city canceled the first tender and announced a second one.

In last year's tender for the construction of a waste incinerator in Koszalin, two bids were submitted that were higher than the city's expectations - even twice as much. PGE Koszalin received a PLN 70 million subsidy from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and a PLN 130 million loan . However, the bids submitted in the tender turned out to be much higher, the lowest amounting to PLN 303 million.

So a second tender was announced and the bids have just been opened. As reported by ekoszalin.pl, three entities have entered the tender for the design and construction of the installation:

• SBB Energy from Opole submitted an offer worth PLN 387,450,000;
• AB Industry from Ożarów Mazowiecki offered PLN 277,673,730;
• The consortium of BUDIMEX and Engitec Technologies SPA (Italy) would like to receive PLN 335,129,490.

As you can see, the differences between the individual offers are very large, and the lowest one was PLN 277 million. This is less than in the first tender, but more than PGK was ready to spend.

- The gross amount that we have is approximately PLN 240 million - admitted Tomasz Bernacki, deputy mayor of Koszalin, assessing the previous tender.

The city announced at the time that it was analyzing the possibilities of recapitalizing the investment, considering, among other things, an increase in the PLN 130 million loan from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

What will it be like now?

The tender offers are being analyzed. For now, I can say that I am happy because we have three offers, so there is competition, and the lowest offer is much more advantageous than before

- says Tomasz Uciński, president of the Koszalin PGK, in an interview with PortalSamorzadowy.pl.

The president, asked about the still missing millions, says: - The free market decides on prices, and as you can see, companies are dictating them now, and local governments have to adapt , but it is important that we managed to improve our situation in the repeated tender. The amount by which the offers currently differ from our expectations is not that big, especially since these are offers given in gross amounts, and we are interested in net prices, because that is how we have the subsidy and loan. We will see how it ends.

The start of the investment in Koszalin is delayed precisely because of the prolonged tender procedures. Tomasz Uciński explains:

It is better to have a longer procedure, but more offers than one and measurable savings compared to the first tender. Especially since practically all incineration investments are delivered with delays

- says the president of the Koszalin PGK.

According to him, the most important thing is that the Modernization Fund (from which money is allocated in the program conducted by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management - ed.) can be used until 2030. - With a reasonable policy pursued by the National Fund, we can count on meeting the deadline - adds Tomasz Uciński.

The Koszalin incinerator will receive waste generated in Koszalin, the municipalities of the Koszalin district and in cities that have declared that they will entrust PGK with the implementation of tasks related to the management of the energy fraction of municipal waste, including from Kołobrzeg, Darłowo and Sławno.

The incinerator, according to the plan, was to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2026 - but due to the delays in the tender decision, this date has become unrealistic. The installation will have a capacity of 30 thousand tons per year, the calorific value of waste estimated at 12.9 MJ/kg. Over the course of a year, it is to ensure the generation of over 170 thousand GJ of heat energy and over 11 thousand MWh of electricity.