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This paper presents factors affecting the effectiveness of photovoltaic (PV) plants and issues occurring in the distribution system network due to the high penetration of conventionally designed PV plants. Factors analyzed in this paper are shading, distance between panels, location of PV plants, European grid code requirements, and network constraints. Their impacts on the effectiveness of the PV power plant are presented one by one. Furthermore, the 1-year power profile of a real PV plant is rescaled to different orientations, and the energy effectiveness of different variants is compared. Finally, the economic aspects are considered by multiplying the energy produced by the energy prices. At the end, final conclusions are given and further research is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's social, economic, and political reality, it cannot be overlooked that the energy self-sufficiency of municipalities not only optimizes the lives of the inhabitants of the municipality but also, in a broader perspective, the services provided by the municipality. The sustainable development of a municipality will therefore depend on its degree of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Economic and technological considerations are not sufficient for the municipality to achieve optimal energy independence without normative conditions. The current (2021/2022) trends in electricity prices and in the development of national and international policies and strategies for electricity generation from renewable energy sources also make the change in the energy market structure toward distributed generation. The main objective of this paper is a theoretical analysis of the legal solutions in force in Poland that allow building energy self-sufficiency in municipalities and their adequacy to the current economic, technological, and political conditions. The scientific discussion will focus here on research problems related to the impact of the national regulations on the gradual assumption of control by municipalities over the generation and distribution of electricity with regard to energy produced in RES installations and the independence of municipalities from the national energy management and supply system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the technical and economic possibilities of integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) and energy-storage systems (ESSs) into a virtual power plant (VPP) and operating them as a single power plant. The purpose of the study is to assess the economic efficiency of the VPP model, which is influenced by several factors such as energy price and energy production. Ten scenarios for the VPP were prepared on the basis of the installed capacities of a hydropower plant (HPP), rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV), and energy-storage system (ESS), as well as weather conditions, in Poland. On the basis of technical conditions, it was assumed that the maximum power capacity of the ESS equaled 1.5 MW. The economic efficiency analysis presented in this paper demonstrated that, in seven years, the VPP will achieve a positive value of the net present value (NPV) for a scenario with 0.5 MW battery storage and rainy summers. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was conducted on price factors and DER production volume. The price variable had a major impact on the NPV value for all scenarios. The scenario with a 0.5 MW battery and typical summers was highly sensitive to all factors, and its sensitivity decreased as the ESS capacity grew from 0.5 to 1.5 MW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the crucial role of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology in mitigating CO2 emissions from Poland's power systems, which is essential not only for meeting climate targets but also for maintaining energy security in the country. Acknowledging natural gas as a transitional fuel, the focus is on evaluating the decarbonization potential of the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plant. The NGCC with and without an amine-based carbon capture unit was modeled using IPSEpro (SimTech, version 7.0). It was found that the annual CO2 emission from 435.68 MWe (net) NGCC can be reduced from 1,365,501 tons (357.8 kgCO2/MWh) to 136,556 tons (42.9 kgCO2/MWh). On the other hand, the CCS reduced the net electric power of the NGCC from 435.68 MW to 363.47 MW and the net energy efficiency from 55.60% to 46.39%. Nonetheless, these results demonstrate the potential of using the amine-based CO2 capture technology in NGCC systems. This is especially important in the context of the decarbonization of the Polish power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for social and regulatory forest ecosystem services can significantly modify the availability and cost of biomass for energy purposes. This article presents a model for optimizing biomass supply chains using a linear programming framework integrated with a geographic information system (GIS). Based on a given type of biomass resource, its calorific value, price, distance from the power plant, and transportation costs, the model identifies the optimal source of biomass, allowing it to cover the demand for the required total energy value with the lowest possible costs. The case study includes the Połaniec power plant in southeastern Poland and potential sources of forest biomass and agricultural straw within 100 km of the plant. The impact of constraints on the availability and cost of biomass was analyzed in the following scenarios: (1) all forest and agriculture biomass is available, (2) forest area in Natura 2000 network is excluded, and (3) firewood and forests with dominated ecological and social function are excluded. Unit costs of biomass varied depending on biomass availability and energy demands. The lowest unit costs of biomass (3.19 EUR/MJ) were for energy demand at the level of 1 TJ yearly for all kinds of biomass and the highest (4.91 EUR/MJ) for ecological and social constraints and energy demand 4 TJ. As energy demand increased, unit costs increased, and the ability to meet this demand with just one type of biomass decreased. The energy biomass sector can utilize the model to benefit both biomass producers and their final buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses three scenarios for the transformation of the Polish power system leading to the achievement of climate neutrality through investment in renewable energy sources. The scenarios differ in terms of the role played by the selected energy technologies. The scenarios were developed using the balancing tool, the Simulator Polish Power System, which analyzed the development of the national power system in terms of optimal costs of achieving climate neutrality and the lowest possible price of electricity generation. The research shows that under Polish climatic conditions, 100% RES energy can be achieved in the balance, but ensuring the continuity of energy supply, which in future will be generated mainly from this type of source, requires the participation of controllable sources such as gas-fired power plants powered by biomethane and energy storage facilities. The scenarios assume balancing RES sources with 15–25 GW of available gas sources and 40 GWh in electricity storage. The article also discusses factors limiting the suggested scenarios, such as the availability of sustainable biomethane in Poland or limitations associated with the possibility of building onshore and offshore wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of enhancing energy recovery efficiency is a key concern within the European Union's climate protection efforts. In particular, it applies to all processes and plants for the harvesting, gathering, and conversion of energy. The abandonment of fossil fuels in favour of alternative energy sources, and the increasing of energy efficiency and its recovery, is now a widely accepted direction of energy development. This study focuses on facilities that recover and process energy from municipal waste left after recycling processes, known as waste-to-energy (WtE) plants. These plants' energy recovery efficiency is governed by the R1 Formula in EU countries. This report is based on an analysis of four years of operational data from selected Polish municipal waste incinerators, supplemented by a discussion of various studies on energy recovery efficiency. The primary objective of this report is to evaluate the effectiveness of these plants in contributing to sustainable waste management and energy recovery. The main effect of the developed report is the set of results of the energy recovery efficiency factor values, determined based on the R1 formula valid in the EU legislation, tabulated and graphically illustrated, and calculated for five selected Polish waste-to-energy plants. The presented results, with their graphical interpretation, discussion, and conclusions, provide insights into several factors influencing the value of the R1 efficiency factor. They can be a valuable contribution to operators of waste-to-energy plants, especially those operating in countries outside the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poland is the most coal-dependent economy and one of the biggest polluters in the EU. In order to alleviate this problem, meet CO2 emission requirements set by EU, and improve the country's energy security, Poland decided to introduce nuclear power to its energy mix. So far, several potential locations for nuclear power plants have been officially proposed, mainly based on technical parameters, but no comparisons of the economic impact of such locations have been considered. Consequently, the main goal of this paper is to compare the national and regional economic effects of investments in nuclear power plants—for both the construction and exploitation phases—in the four most probable locations, which are similarly beneficial from a technical point of view. In order to simulate these effects, the spatial recursive dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model was calibrated until 2050 including agglomeration effects and featuring the regional economies of all Polish regions. The results show that although the construction phase is beneficial for economic development in all four regions, the exploitation phase is good for only one. The economies of the other regions suffer, to a greater or lesser extent, from the Dutch disease. The paper argues that the regional economic effects of such an investment differ significantly, due to differences in the regions' economic structures; hence, they should always be taken into account in the final decisions on the power plants' locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Poland, mixed municipal waste, municipal sewage and agricultural waste are used to produce biogas. Biodegradable green waste and kitchen waste generated in households are not used for this purpose. In the cogeneration process, the produced biogas is burned in a gas generator, resulting in electricity and heat. Electricity is sold in its entirety to the energy operator, but there are no heat consumers. The solution may be the construction of municipal biogas plants in urban areas, using kitchen and green biowaste from households located in cities and surrounding municipalities. Thanks to this location, the surplus heat can be used by the local district heating network to heat the buildings in the city. The aim of the article is to assess the possibilities of producing biogas and energy from municipal bio-waste generated in households in Krakow and surrounding communes. To achieve the goal, a simulation was carried out for a biogas plant with a capacity of 1 MW. Two types of substrates were used as inputs, i.e., biowaste from households and green biowaste. The data for analysis came from the Marshal's Office of the Małopolskie Voivodeship, to which municipalities submit reports on the amount of municipal waste collected, and the Central Statistical Office, which has data on municipal waste collected in municipalities in Poland. The collected data were used to conduct five simulations. The most advantageous method is to produce biogas from kitchen waste and silage from green waste mixed in the appropriate C:N ratio. Assuming the optimal proportions of mixed substrates, a 1 MW biogas plant can produce 4.1 million m3 of biogas, from which electricity can be produced for 2.5 thousand houses and heat for 1.1 thousand houses. The article ends with conclusions and recommendations on how to collect biodegradable municipal waste, which should be treated as a valuable source of energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in the number of small renewable energy sources (RES) power plants and the volume of generated energy in the years 2016–2020, with an outlook to year 2025. The study covered the area of Poland, including the division into provinces and different sources of renewable energy. Absolute values of electric power production and sale were presented, in addition to calculated structure indices. Moreover, the number and structure of small power plants using different renewable energy sources was determined for every Polish province. A classification of the provinces was made, where four classes were distinguished depending on the number of RES plants operating in the provinces. The research results allowed us to diagnose the current situation and make a prognosis for the future, which may translate into support for the development of particular types of installations, depending on the natural and economic characteristics of each area. The added value of the study stems from the fact that previous reports focused mainly on micro or large power plants and the time span covered data before and during the pandemic. This made it possible to assess the impact of the pandemic on the development of small renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Opole Power Plant is part of the PGE group (Polish Energy Group), the largest power company in Poland. It produces electricity from coal combustion, which means that ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) policy should be one of the power plant's strategic priorities. The article focuses on evaluating the ESG activities implemented by the power plant and their relation to the standards set at the corporation. The article's primary hypothesis is that ESG activities are a significant element of the power plant's strategy, with most of them determined by policies undertaken at the level of the PGE Group as a whole. The secondary hypotheses assume that trade union representatives attach greater importance (than management) to the social elements of ESG (H2) and that individual management representatives rate higher regarding the importance of those ESG areas for which they are personally responsible (H3). The research method used in the article consists of interviews conducted with representatives of the power plant's board of directors responsible for individual areas of ESG activities and representatives of trade unions. In addition to groups of questions relating to corporate governance, the empirical material was organized from the perspective of power plant stakeholders. The results obtained support the acceptance of the first two hypotheses posed and the rejection of the third one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of the connection between different units that operate in the same area assures always interesting results. During this investigation, the concerned area was a virtual power plant (VPP) that operates in Poland. The main distributed resources included in the VPP are a 1.25 MW hydropower plant and an associated 0.5 MW energy storage system. The mentioned VPP was a source of synchronic, long-term, multipoint power quality (PQ) data. Then, for five related measurement points, the conclusion about the relation in point of PQ was performed using correlation analysis, the global index approach, and cluster analysis. Global indicators were applied in place of PQ parameters to reduce the amount of analyzed data and to check the correlation between phase values. For such a big dataset, the occurrence of outliers is certain, and outliers may affect the correlation results. Thus, to find and exclude them, cluster analysis (k-means algorithm, Chebyshev distance) was applied. Finally, the correlation between PQ global indicators of different measurement points was performed. It assured general information about VPP units' relation in point of PQ. Under the investigation, both Pearson's and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the recent trends that concern renewable energy sources and energy storage systems is the concept of virtual power plants (VPP). The majority of research now focuses on analyzing case studies of VPP in different issues. This article presents the investigation that is based on a real VPP. That VPP operates in Poland and consists of hydropower plants (HPP), as well as energy storage systems (ESS). For specific analysis, cluster analysis, as a representative technique of data mining, was selected for power quality (PQ) issues. The used data represents 26 weeks of PQ multipoint synchronic measurements for 5 related to VPP points. The investigation discusses different input databases for cluster analysis. Moreover, as an extension to using classical PQ parameters as an input, the application of the global index was proposed. This enables the reduction of the size of the input database with maintaining the data features for cluster analysis. Moreover, the problem of the optimal number of cluster selection is discussed. Finally, the assessment of clustering results was performed to assess the VPP impact on PQ level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out of 2 TWe of coal power plant capacity in operation globally today, more than half is less than 14 years old. Climate policy related to limiting CO2-emissions makes the longer-term operation of these plants untenable. In this study, we assess the spectrum of available options for the future of both equipment and jobs in the coal power sector by assessing the full scope of "retrofit decarbonization" options. Retrofit decarbonization is an umbrella term that includes adding carbon capture, fuel conversion, and the replacement of coal boilers with new low-carbon energy sources, in each case re-using as much of the existing equipment as economically practicable while reducing or eliminating emissions. This article explores this idea using the Polish coal power fleet as a case study. Retrofit decarbonization in Poland was shown to be most attractive using high-temperature small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to replace coal boilers, which can lower upfront capital costs by ~28–35% and levelized cost of electricity by 9–28% compared to a greenfield installation. If retrofit decarbonization is implemented globally by the late 2020s, up to 200 billion tons of otherwise-committed CO2-emissions could be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A virtual power plant (VPP) can be defined as the integration of decentralized units into one centralized control system. A VPP consists of generation sources and energy storage units. In this article, based on real measurements, the charging and discharging characteristics of the battery energy storage system (BESS) were determined, which represents a key element of the experimental virtual power plant operating in the power system in Poland. The characteristics were determined using synchronous measurements of the power of charge and discharge of the storage and the state of charge (SoC). The analyzed private network also includes a hydroelectric power plant (HPP) and loads. The article also examines the impact of charging and discharging characteristics of the BESS on its operation, analyzing the behavior of the storage unit for the given operation plans. The last element of the analysis is to control the power flow in the private network. The operation of the VPP for the given scenario of power flow control was examined. The aim of the scenario is to adjust the load of the private network to the level set by the function. The tests of power flow are carried out on the day on which the maximum power demand occurred. The analysis was performed for four cases: a constant value limitation when the HPP is in operation and when it is not, and two limits set by function during normal operation of the HPP. Thus, the article deals not only with the issue of determining the actual characteristics of charging and discharging the storage unit, but also their impact on the operation of the entire VPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of virtual power plants (VPP) was introduced over 20 years ago but is still actively researched. The majority of research now focuses on analyzing case studies of such installations. In this article, the investigation is based on a VPP in Poland, which contains hydropower plants (HPP) and energy storage systems (ESS). For specific analysis, the power quality (PQ) issues were selected. The used data contain 26 weeks of multipoint, synchronic measurements of power quality levels in four related points. The investigation is concerned with the application of a global index to a single-point assessment as well as an area-related assessment approach. Moreover, the problem of flagged data is discussed. Finally, the assessment of VPP's impact on PQ level is conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal combustion products can be considered as commercial products or waste depending on the quality of the coal, the combustion process, and the country's legislation. The circular economy can create incentives for the implementation of new business models in large power plants in cooperation with coal mines and users of coal combustion products. This is particularly important in Poland, where coal still remains the main source of energy, employing over 80,000 workers. The objective of this study was to assess the readiness for change toward a circular economy and to identify challenges, barriers, and plans at seven large power plants. To do this, a final questionnaire was developed after checking environmental reporting, a CATI survey, and brainstorming between circular economy leaders from science, industry, and non-governmental organizations. The results indicate that even if the great economic and environmental potential of coal combustion products management are understood, all requirements connected with CO2 and air pollution have higher priorities. Policy shifts away from coal do not promote cooperation, but the higher acceptance of products from waste and more transparent data shows a large potential for changes toward a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to assess the techno-economic potential of the proposed novel energy system, which allows for negative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). The analyzed system comprises four main subsystems: a biomass-fired combined heat and power plant integrated with a CO2 capture and compression unit, a CO2 transport pipeline, a CO2-enhanced geothermal system, and a supercritical CO2 Brayton power cycle. For the purpose of the comprehensive techno-economic assessment, the results for the reference biomass-fired combined heat and power plant without CO2 capture are also presented. Based on the proposed framework for energy and economic assessment, the energy efficiencies, the specific primary energy consumption of CO2 avoidance, the cost of CO2 avoidance, and negative CO2 emissions are evaluated based on the results of process simulations. In addition, an overview of the relevant elements of the whole system is provided, taking into account technological progress and technology readiness levels. The specific primary energy consumption per unit of CO2 avoided in the analyzed system is equal to 2.17 MJLHV/kg CO2 for biomass only (and 6.22 MJLHV/kg CO2 when geothermal energy is included) and 3.41 MJLHV/kg CO2 excluding the CO2 utilization in the enhanced geothermal system. Regarding the economic performance of the analyzed system, the levelized cost of electricity and heat are almost two times higher than those of the reference system (239.0 to 127.5 EUR/MWh and 9.4 to 5.0 EUR/GJ), which leads to negative values of the Net Present Value in all analyzed scenarios. The CO2 avoided cost and CO2 negative cost in the business as usual economic scenario are equal to 63.0 and 48.2 EUR/t CO2, respectively, and drop to 27.3 and 20 EUR/t CO2 in the technological development scenario. The analysis proves the economic feasibility of the proposed CO2 utilization and storage option in the enhanced geothermal system integrated with the sCO2 cycle when the cost of CO2 transport and storage is above 10 EUR/t CO2 (at a transport distance of 50 km). The technology readiness level of the proposed technology was assessed as TRL4 (technological development), mainly due to the early stage of the CO2-enhanced geothermal systems development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing ecological standards force the implementation of solutions that will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere. This is particularly important in Poland, whose energy system is almost 80% based on coal. In the interest of low carbon development it is worth considering the optimization of existing old coal-based power plants. The main goal of the research was to present the benefits of modernization of existing boiler equipment and to analyze the combustion process of various types of coal sorts that have a significant impact on the optimization of the production processes of energy media. An analysis of the processes occurring in boiler devices during the combustion of fuel was carried out, which had a significant impact on the quality of generated heat and electricity. The conducted research defined technological solutions for boiler structures that have a significant impact on improving the efficiency of the technological process in heating plants and the characteristics of coal as energy fuel. Practical technical and modernization solutions have been proposed that contribute to the optimization of coal combustion processes, resulting in increased energy efficiency of the heating plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]