Kraków, Poland
Plug & Chill: Share Energy, gain more.
The Kraków pilot site aims to develop a sustainable and scalable business model that enables local small and micro companies to use and share surplus solar energy. By creating a network of prosumers and electric vehicle (EV) drivers, the pilot seeks to reorganize energy production, usage, and sharing at the local level, empowering communities and supporting the energy transition.
The local challenges:
Despite the rising number of prosumers in Kraków, less than 30% of the solar energy produced is used locally. Prosumers often face difficulties with grid access and are unable to sell surplus electricity. Meanwhile, EV drivers struggle with limited public charging infrastructure and long wait times.
The Kraków pilot aims to bridge these gaps by:
- Enabling energy circulation within a community network
- Supporting peer-to-peer energy sharing
- Laying the groundwork for legal and business model innovation
Activities
Energy Sharing & Business Model Development
• Developing a sustainable business model for small and micro companies to profitably use and share locally produced solar energy
• Recruiting 10 small/micro enterprises with PV installations to participate in testing
• Promoting the concept of “social chargers” – local EV charging stations powered by surplus energy & creating a community of EV drivers to enable peer-to-peer energy exchange
Stakeholder Engagement & Regulatory Innovation
• Conducting workshops with the Energy Regulatory Office (URE), local government, and business associations
• Exploring regulatory sandboxes and co-designing socio-technical and legal models
• Organizing expert interviews to identify barriers and enablers for upscaling the solution
Digital Infrastructure & Community Tools
• Developing a mobile application that connects prosumers with EV drivers
• Enabling real-time energy sharing, tracking, and booking of social chargers
• Facilitating user communication and feedback collection through the app
Partners involved
