The article presents selected issues from the Polish Energy Policy draft until 2040. From many issues, the authors chose the ones they considered the most revolutionary. Firstly, the National Power System should be restructured to meet the challenges of a changing environment, be adapted to the growing demand for electricity, and at the same time have the least impact on the natural environment. These goals can be achieved through reforms to reduce the importance of coal in the energy mix and the development of renewable energy sources, especially offshore wind energy. The next tasks are the development of electromobility, enabling the reduction of pollution caused by transport, and, in the longer term, after 2030, the development of nuclear energy in place of the withdrawn coal power.
An analysis of the power system functioning and the behaviors of the energy market participants allows the trends taking place within years to be identified, including these associated with the evolution of the electric energy and power demand profiles. The problems of balancing the peak power demand are of both a short and long term nature, which implies the need for changes in the electricity generation sector. Apart from the existing “silo-type” generation units, the construction of distributed energy sources implemented in the civic formula in the framework of self-sufficient energy communes and energy clusters is becoming increasingly important. Support for these programs is realized both at the legislative level, as well as within dedicated competitions and ministerial activities. The financial support carried out by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and the Regional Operational Programs is also noticeable. One of the activities aimed at spreading the idea of clustering was the competition for certified energy clusters, conducted by the Ministry of Energy. The goal of the contest was the promotion and development of the distributed energy sector, which could be used for the improvement of energy security in the local manner and constitute a basis for the knowledge necessary in planning and developing the state’s energy policy. The paper presents a synthetic analysis of the results of the competition for a certified energy cluster from the perspective of planning and operational needs related to the functioning of the power system. Further, the information about the investment plans of new generation capacities, including their breakdown with respect to type, achievable power and costs has been provided. Also, the balancing of the demand for electric energy by own generation within the energy clusters has been characterized for three time perspectives
Observing the situation in the power industry it is easy to see that there are very deep changes in it. They rely primarily on moving away from conventional energy to renewable energy. This is particularly the case for energy in the European Union. Europe strives to be a forerunner in renewable technologies and a leader in the fight against global warming. The mining industry is being abolished and coal-fired power stations are being displaced by renewable energy sources. This situation is not only a result of EU directives but also of grassroots social initiatives inspired by environmental groups. The new lignite openings are being blocked, due to the lack of public acceptance, and the construction of conventional power plants. They do not help economic arguments for the development of energy based on coal, lignite, fuel that is significantly cheaper than the other, or to provide potential investors with the creation of new jobs. Also, coal investments are suspended in other regions of the world. CoalSwarm coal research shows that 2016 saw a dramatic fall in the amount of coal investment in the world. Even in China and India, where most of the coal industry has developed in recent years, about 100 investments have been suspended. The situation in the US is unclear. Although Barack Obama signed the Paris Agreement, current United States President Donal Trump has spoken out about this agreement and in numerous speeches and is eager to return to the dominant role of coal in the American economy. Poland still maintains the carbon structure of the power industry, but the Minister of Energy has announced that the new block at the Ostrołęka power plant will be the last coal-fired power plant to be built in Poland. This statement allows us to believe that there may be a return to Poland’s energy policy in the nearest future, and the long-awaited document, Poland’s energy policy until 2050, will determine the direction of change for the coming years.
The progressive processes of globalization and changes in the global, European and local economy require integrated efforts aimed at solving problems related to development at the national regional and the local level involving the environment, energy sources, climate and technological transformation issues. European Union Member States are given right to create an individual Energy mix. Coal will continue to play a major role in Poland’s energy mix during the next decades. Polish coal reserves can provide energy security for decades.
Despite crude oil and natural gas growth in fuel consumption, coal will continue to be the stabilizer of energy security for the country and play an important role in Poland’s energy mix in the years to come. However, further coal consumption requires investments in low carbon technologies which are of high efficiency and in high-efficiency cogeneration.
The validity of the full utilization of cogeneration potential should be highlighted. Operating cogeneration plants are more expensive than power plants but they are more efficient and generate less carbon emissions. In accordance with the assumptions of the Energy policy of Poland, a low-carbon economy with renewable Energy sources and nuclear Energy should be supported and developed, however the obsolete coal generators should be replaced with low-carbon high-efficient ones.
Coal in Poland is an available conventional fuel providing energy security and independence of the country. Therefore, conventional energy generation should be based on coal with the optimal development of renewable energy sources. Such a solution secures the energy supply based on coal and the independence of political and economic turmoil of global markets. Polish coal reserves can secure the energy supply for decades. Coal will surely be important for energy security in the future despite the growing share of oil and gas in energy mix. The development of renewable power generation will be possible with the conventional energy generation offsetting volatile renewable power generation as Poland’s climate doesn’t allow for the stable and effective use of renewable energy sources. Considering the policy of the European Union with respect to emission reductions of greenhouse gasses and general trends as reflected in the Paris agreement in 2016, as a country we will be forced to increase renewable energy production in our energy mix. However, this process cannot impact the energy security of the country and stability and the uninterrupted supply of energy to consumers. Therefore seeking the compromise with the current energy mix in Poland is the best way to its gradual change with the simultaneous conservation of each of the sources of energy. It’s obvious that Poland can not be lonely energy island in Europe and in the world, which increasingly develops distributed energy and/ renewable technologies as well as energy storage ones. One can notice that without renewable generation and the reduction of coal’s share in country’s energy mix we will become the importer of electricity with raising energy dependence.
This paper presents the main dilemma of development of the Polish energy sector on the 20th anniversary of the first liberalization directive of the European Union, which created the energy market. The situation in the Polish energy sector based on fossil fuels, its transformation into lower emission one is closely connected to the process of restructuring and further development of the mining sector. On the other hand, we are witnessing the development of RES, household installations producing electricity with storage and the electrification of public transport. The investments in new, large scale fossil fuel fired power plants are very expensive and not economically proven when electricity prices are low. Until the new direction of investment in energy sector will be decided, the option of the lasting of the operating existing power units seems to be a good proposal. Is the thesis: “The energy security of Poland should be fully based on indigenous sources, generation and distribution assets, delivering electricity to end users. Ensuring competitive energy prices to the economy and households, the market should be fully open to producers and consumers, including chip electricity arising from the European single market” the right assumption for the Polish energy policy?
The implementation of micro scale combined heat and power systems is one of the ways to improve the energy security of consumers. In fact, there are many available large and medium scale cogeneration units, which operate according to the Rankine Cycle. Due to European Union demands in the field of using renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency result in the importance of additionally developing systems dedicated for use in residential buildings, farms, schools and other facilities. This paper shows the concept of introducing thermoelectric generators into typical wood stoves: steel plate wood stoves and accumulative wood stoves. Electricity generated in thermoelectric generators (there were studies on both three market available units and a prototypical unit developed by the authors) may be firstly consumed by the system (to power controller, actuators, fans, pumps, etc.). Additional power (if available) may be stored in batteries and then used to power home appliances (light, small electronics and others). It should be noted that commercially available thermoelectric generators are not matched for domestic heating devices – the main problems are connected with an insufficient heat flux transmitted from the stove to the hot side of the generator (caused e.g. by the non -homogeneous temperature distribution of the surface and bad contact between the stove and the generator) and inefficient cooling. To ensure the high efficiency of micro cogeneration systems, developing a dedicated construction both of the generator and the heat source is necessary.
By means of small wind turbines, it is possible to create distributed sources of electricity useful in areas with good wind conditions. Sometimes, however, it is possible to use small wind turbines also in areas characterized by lower average wind speeds during the year. At the small wind turbine design stage, various types of technical solutions to increase the speed of the wind stream, as well as to optimally orientate it, can be applied. The methods for increasing the efficiency of wind energy conversion into electricity in the case of a wind turbine include: the use of a diffuser shielding the turbine rotor and the optimization of blades mounted on the turbine rotor. In the paper, the influence of the diffuser and rotor blades geometry on the efficiency of an exemplary wind turbine for exploitation in the West Pomeranian Province is investigated. The analyses are performed for three types of the diffuser and for three types of rotor blades. Based on them, the most optimal shapes of the diffuser and blades are selected due to the efficiency of the wind turbine. For the turbine with the designed diffuser, calculations of the output power for the assumed different values of the average annual wind speed and the constant Betz power factor and the specified generator efficiency are made. In all the analyzed cases, the amount of energy that can be generated by the turbine during the year is also estimated. Important practical conclusions are formulated on the basis of these calculations. In the final part of the paper, a 3D model of the wind turbine with the diffuser and rotor blades chosen based on earlier analyses is presented. As a material for the diffuser and rotor blades, glass fiber type A is applied. By means of calculations using the finite element method, the limit displacement of the turbine structure under the influence of a hurricane wind are determined. Based on these calculations, the correctness of the modelled small wind turbine structure has been demonstrated.
It is worth mentioning that despite of the decrease of coal generation in the energy mix, the fuel remains crucial for energy sector stabilizing the energy system and securing the energy supply in Poland as well as has a positive impact on the energy security of the European Union. The development of renewable energy will be possible with conventional energy compensating the unstable operation of renewable energy sources as climate conditions in Poland do not allow for the sustainable usage of renewable energy sources and thus, their effective utilization. The modernization of 200 MW energy generating units as well as the possible construction of 2–3 similar units will enable the stabilization of the amount of electricity in the transmission grid. The modern and modernized 200 MW energy generating units are able to maintain grid operation if needed and it will be easier to phase them out gradually as prosumer energy and energy storage technologies are being developed. Due to the held and planned general and additional generation capacity auctions for years following 2020, we are assured that despite the substantial increase of distributed generation sources in Poland’s energy mix, the electricity supply to end-users will be stable and safe.