17 Exploitation of Rivers in Poland for Electricity …
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other toxic gases and solid particles during combustion. Due to the threat of climate,
renewable energy sources are becoming more and more popular.
The global energy potential is 24,739.3 TW in total, of which the maximum
non-renewable energy is 1655 TW, i.e. 6.7% (coal 900 TW, uranium 90–300 TW,
oil 240 TW and natural gas 215 TW). The global renewable energy potential is
in total 23,084.3 TW, i.e. 93.3% of which is attributable to tides (0.3 TW), waves
(0.2–2 TW), geothermal (0.3–2 TW), water (3–4 TW), biomass (2–6 TW), wind
(25–70 TW), solar (23,000 TW). 93% of the world’s energy potential is renewable
energy, and only less than 7% is non-renewable energy. If we were able to use all
the solar energy, we would be self-sufficient for many years. The problem with solar
energy is that it is quite dispersed (it reaches about 180 W/m
2 to the earth’s surface)
and it is difficult to use it. Current methods of direct use in photovoltaic cells or solar
plants are ineffective. Also, the potential of hydropower, which accounts for 25%
of the world’s energy consumption compared to other types of renewable energy, is
relatively small and amounts to only 0.017%.
The total nominal capacity in hydropower (including pumped storage power
plants) in 2016 was 1246 GW (1.246 TW), i.e. about 31% of the world’s hydroelectric
potential. With this power, it is estimated that in 2016, 4102 TWh of electricity was
produced [49]. The growing demand for electricity results from the development of
civilization. Hydropower belongs to renewable energy sources that do not pollute the
natural environment. Systematic growth of power in newly built hydropower plants
in the world is still observed. The largest increase in this area in recent years has
been recorded by China and Brazil. It is forecasted that the rapid development of
hydropower will take place in African countries due to the lack of sufficient electricity
there.
In 2016, the total nominal capacity of hydroelectric power stations, including
pumped storage power plants, amounted to 223.008 GW in Europe, of which the
six most powerful countries are: Norway (31.626 GW), France (25.405 GW), Italy
(21.884 GW), Spain (20.354 GW), Switzerland (16.657 GW), Sweden (16.419 GW).
Poland is in the 20th position with the nominal capacity of 2.351 GW (of which almost
75% is pumped storage) [49]. Only approx. 600 MW is generated from flow work.
Because the production rate of hydropower plants during a year is around 40% in our
country, even if the full energy potential of all rivers in Poland is fully exploited, we
will not be able to compete with these countries. The technical potential indicates
that it is still possible to increase the power of the Polish run-of river and storage
power plants to about 1.6 GW (14 TWh/year). So in the best case, we could increase
the power obtained from hydropower plants (without pump plants) by about 1 GW.
This means that we can build 5–10 large hydropower plants and several hundred to
several thousand SHPs. It can be concluded that despite the lack of potential, there
is still much to be done in Poland in the field of hydropower.
349
other toxic gases and solid particles during combustion. Due to the threat of climate,
renewable energy sources are becoming more and more popular.
The global energy potential is 24,739.3 TW in total, of which the maximum
non-renewable energy is 1655 TW, i.e. 6.7% (coal 900 TW, uranium 90–300 TW,
oil 240 TW and natural gas 215 TW). The global renewable energy potential is
in total 23,084.3 TW, i.e. 93.3% of which is attributable to tides (0.3 TW), waves
(0.2–2 TW), geothermal (0.3–2 TW), water (3–4 TW), biomass (2–6 TW), wind
(25–70 TW), solar (23,000 TW). 93% of the world’s energy potential is renewable
energy, and only less than 7% is non-renewable energy. If we were able to use all
the solar energy, we would be self-sufficient for many years. The problem with solar
energy is that it is quite dispersed (it reaches about 180 W/m
2 to the earth’s surface)
and it is difficult to use it. Current methods of direct use in photovoltaic cells or solar
plants are ineffective. Also, the potential of hydropower, which accounts for 25%
of the world’s energy consumption compared to other types of renewable energy, is
relatively small and amounts to only 0.017%.
The total nominal capacity in hydropower (including pumped storage power
plants) in 2016 was 1246 GW (1.246 TW), i.e. about 31% of the world’s hydroelectric
potential. With this power, it is estimated that in 2016, 4102 TWh of electricity was
produced [49]. The growing demand for electricity results from the development of
civilization. Hydropower belongs to renewable energy sources that do not pollute the
natural environment. Systematic growth of power in newly built hydropower plants
in the world is still observed. The largest increase in this area in recent years has
been recorded by China and Brazil. It is forecasted that the rapid development of
hydropower will take place in African countries due to the lack of sufficient electricity
there.
In 2016, the total nominal capacity of hydroelectric power stations, including
pumped storage power plants, amounted to 223.008 GW in Europe, of which the
six most powerful countries are: Norway (31.626 GW), France (25.405 GW), Italy
(21.884 GW), Spain (20.354 GW), Switzerland (16.657 GW), Sweden (16.419 GW).
Poland is in the 20th position with the nominal capacity of 2.351 GW (of which almost
75% is pumped storage) [49]. Only approx. 600 MW is generated from flow work.
Because the production rate of hydropower plants during a year is around 40% in our
country, even if the full energy potential of all rivers in Poland is fully exploited, we
will not be able to compete with these countries. The technical potential indicates
that it is still possible to increase the power of the Polish run-of river and storage
power plants to about 1.6 GW (14 TWh/year). So in the best case, we could increase
the power obtained from hydropower plants (without pump plants) by about 1 GW.
This means that we can build 5–10 large hydropower plants and several hundred to
several thousand SHPs. It can be concluded that despite the lack of potential, there
is still much to be done in Poland in the field of hydropower.