Renewable energy sources in the Region of Warmia and Mazury in north-eastern Poland

The region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland is fourth largest voivodeship which occupies 7,7 % of the country’s territory. The Region of Warmia and Mazury in north-eastern Poland is situated at a distance from conventional energy sources. Therefore, the Region is a Polish leader in power generation from renewable energy sources. The structure of electrical grids in the Region of Warmia and Mazury is poorly developed and insufficient. Therefore, electric power infrastructure should be expanded and modernized as part of energy sector development to increase energy efficiency as well as electricity and heat production from renewable energy sources. The Region of Warmia and Mazury is characterized by a considerable discrepancy between energy generation and energy use. It recent years, electricity consumption exceeded energy production more than 10-fold. The region has to purchase energy from external sources and develop new generation methods, in particular those that rely on renewable resources of energy. In Warmia and Mazury, the most popular renewable energy sources include biomass, wind turbines, solar and photovoltaic panels, hydropower, heat pumps and geothermal energy. The region is characterized by distributed energy generation in small polants that carter mostly to local needs. The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn has developed, in collaboration with the Warmia and Mazury Energy Agency, a renewable energy strategy for 2010-2020 in the Region of Warmia and Mazury. The strategy is consistent with the Polish Energy Policy and the national plan for the use of renewable energy sources. In the region Warmia and Mazury, efforts are being made to generate 14,000 TJ of energy from renewable sources ( approx. 18,4 % of energy consumption in the region) and 1,700 GWh of electricity (approx. 49 % of energy consumption in the region), reduce CO2 emissions in the energy sector by 1,530,000 tons, and the decrease energy consumption per unit of GDP (PLN 1 million) from 1.94 TJ to 1.67 TJ by 2020.