Energy in Poland

Bełchatów Power Station is a lignite-fired power station that produces 27-28 TWh of electricity per year, or 20% of the total power generation in Poland.

Energy in Poland describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Poland.

In 2009, Poland was world's 9th largest hard coal producer. The country is also the second largest coal consumer in Europe behind Germany.^[1]

Overview

Energy in Poland[2]
	Capita	Prim. energy	Production	Import	Electricity	CO2-emission
	Million	TWh	TWh	TWh	TWh	Mt
2004	38.2	1,067	917	157	131	296
2007	38.1	1,129	845	294	140	305
2008	38.1	1,138	830	352	142	299
2009	38.2	1,093	785	352	137	287
2010	38.2	1,180	784	373	144	305
2012	38.5	1,178	797	402	148	300
2012R	38.5	1,138	831	360	148	294
2013	38.5	1,135	825	301	150	292
Change 2004-10	0.0 %	10.6 %	-14.5 %	138 %	10.3 %	3.1 %
Mtoe = 11.63 TWh, Prim. energy includes energy losses that are 2/3 for nuclear power[3] 2012R = CO2 calculation criteria changed, numbers updated

2015 fuel taxes, in PLN^[4]

	Diesel	Gasoline	Natural gas		Coal	Electricity
per unit	liter	liter	m^3	GJ	GJ	MWh
Excise	1.459	1.669		1.28	1.28
Environment

Coal

In 2009 Poland produced 78 megatonnes (Mt) of hard coal and 57 Mt of brown coal.

Coal and the environment

Coal mining has far-reaching effects on local water resources. Coal mining requires large amounts of water. Mining activities have dropped the water level of Lake Ostrowskie by almost two meters in the Kuyavia–Pomerania and the lakes in the Powidz Landscape Park. According to Poznań's University of Agriculture, the water drainage in the Kleczew brown coal mining areas has formed craters in the area.^[1]

Coal and the public

In April 2008, five thousand people demonstrated in Kruszwica to protect cultural heritage and the nature reserve at Lake Gopło. This was the first protest of its kind in the country's history. Gopło Millennium Park (Nadgoplański Park Tysiąclecia) is protected by the European Union's Natura 2000 program and includes a major bird sanctuary. The Tomisławice opencast mine (less than 10 kilometers away from the Kruszwica mine) was due to open in 2009.^[1]

Coal and business

The Bełchatów Power Station in the Łódź region supplies almost 20% of Poland's energy. It is the largest brown coal power plant in Europe.

Electricity

In 2008, a net 143 TWh of electricity were produced in coal-based power plants.^[5]

Renewable energy

The Polish government had plans to reach 2,000 MW in wind power capacity and a 2.3% share of wind generation in domestic energy consumption by 2010.^[6] By the end of 2010, the capacity stood at 1,107 MW.^[7]

A binding European Union resolution stipulates a 15% renewable energy target in 2020. According to the Polish National Renewable Energy Action Plan, the 2020 target is 19% of the national energy capacity (15.2 TWh wind power and 14.2 TWh biomass), 17% in heating and cooling, and 10.1% in transport. EWEA's 2009 forecast suggests a higher wind capacity of 10–12 GW (2020).^[8]

If Poland had the same wind power density as Denmark, there would have been 23 GW of wind power by the end of 2008.^[9]

EU and Poland Wind Energy Capacity (MW)[10][11][12][13]
No	Country	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998
-	EU-27	105,696	93,957	84,074	74,767	64,712	56,517	48,069	40,511	34,383	28,599	23,159	17,315	12,887	9,678	6,453
9	Poland	2,497	1,616	1,107	725	544	276	153	83	63	63	27	0	0	0	0

Global warming

Poland opposed the 2009 EU proposal to support developing countries in applying measures against global warming, at a cost of 5-7 billion € during the years 2010–2012.^[14]

See also

• Oil industry in Poland

References

1. "The True Cost of Coal" (PDF). Greenpeace. November 27, 2008. pp. 6, 54–57. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
2. IEA Key World Energy Statistics Statistics 2015, 2014 (2012R as in November 2015 + 2012 as in March 2014 is comparable to previous years statistical calculation criteria, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2006 IEA October, crude oil p.11, coal p. 13 gas p. 15
3. Energy in Sweden 2010, Facts and figures, The Swedish Energy Agency, Table 8 Losses in nuclear power stations Table 9 Nuclear power brutto
4. Michel, Sharon. ENERGY PRICES AND TAXES, COUNTRY NOTES, 3rd Quarter 2015, page 40. International Energy Agency, 2015
5. "Key World Energy Statistics" (PDF). International Energy Agency. 2010. p. 54. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
6. GWEC "Global Wind Report" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Global Wind Energy Council. 2006. p. 25. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
7. "Wind in Power – European Statistics" (PDF). The European Wind Energy Association. 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
8. "EU Energy Police to 2050" (PDF). The European Wind Energy Association. March 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
9. "Pure Power – Wind Energy Targets for 2020 and 2030" (PDF). The European Wind Energy Association. 2009. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
10. EWEA Staff (2010). "Cumulative installed capacity per EU Member State 1998 - 2009 (MW)". European Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
11. EWEA Staff (February 2011). "EWEA Annual Statistics 2010" (PDF). European Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
12. EWEA Staff (February 2012). "EWEA Annual Statistics 2011" (PDF). European Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
13. Wind in power: 2012 European statistics February 2013
14. "Puola ei suostu ilmastotalkoisiin" (in Finnish). YLE. October 2, 2009. Retrieved 2011-05-22.

External links

• Report on the Polish power system (PDF 1.44 MB), February 2014