17 Exploitation of Rivers in Poland for Electricity …
335
Fig. 17.1 Distribution of hydroelectric power plants with a capacity exceeding 10 MW in Poland
the 1970s as energy storage for a nearby nuclear power plant. The commissioning
was carried out in 1983. Since the construction of the nuclear power plant did not
materialize after the Chernobyl disaster, the power plant in ˙
Zarnowiec is used to
equalize the load on the national grid in daily mode. The power plant produces
716 MW [18]. The capacity of the head reservoir is about 13.8 million m
3 , which
allows working for only 5.5 h. After this time, the Czymanowo reservoir is empty
and in order to fill it, the turbines of the power plant must pump water back from the
˙
Zarnowieckie Lake, which is the tail reservoir of the ˙
Zarnowiec power plant. Four
reversible Francis turbines with a diameter of 6 m were used for power generation
and pump operation. The difference in levels between reservoirs is 125 m. The water
is guided by four penstock pipes with a diameter of 5.4–7.1 m.
The ˙
Zarnowiec power plant starts to work only when there are energy shortages
in the grid network, and only a fast-running pumped storage power plant can cover
them. The starting takes a couple of minutes and is conducted from the National
Power Dispatch in Warsaw. The power plant can also be used to support the startups of coal-fired power plants and is a network load for failures that can disconnect
335
Fig. 17.1 Distribution of hydroelectric power plants with a capacity exceeding 10 MW in Poland
the 1970s as energy storage for a nearby nuclear power plant. The commissioning
was carried out in 1983. Since the construction of the nuclear power plant did not
materialize after the Chernobyl disaster, the power plant in ˙
Zarnowiec is used to
equalize the load on the national grid in daily mode. The power plant produces
716 MW [18]. The capacity of the head reservoir is about 13.8 million m
3 , which
allows working for only 5.5 h. After this time, the Czymanowo reservoir is empty
and in order to fill it, the turbines of the power plant must pump water back from the
˙
Zarnowieckie Lake, which is the tail reservoir of the ˙
Zarnowiec power plant. Four
reversible Francis turbines with a diameter of 6 m were used for power generation
and pump operation. The difference in levels between reservoirs is 125 m. The water
is guided by four penstock pipes with a diameter of 5.4–7.1 m.
The ˙
Zarnowiec power plant starts to work only when there are energy shortages
in the grid network, and only a fast-running pumped storage power plant can cover
them. The starting takes a couple of minutes and is conducted from the National
Power Dispatch in Warsaw. The power plant can also be used to support the startups of coal-fired power plants and is a network load for failures that can disconnect