Euractiv
Summary
The last years brought Poland a major regulatory push to wind and solar energy, with the goal of significantly reducing the use of coal and increasing renewable sources share in the energy mix. Polish energy sector companies are fully on board with the green transformation, which fuels more and more economically and environmentally beneficial investment opportunities.
There is no doubt that renewable electricity should be considered as the main driver for the decarbonisation of the EU economy by electrification of possibly all end-use sectors. We see also room for renewable and low-carbon gases for the purpose of complementing the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors. Given combined efforts, the Polish energy sector has the potential to replace coal with renewables. To make all necessary actions possible, we need to add two numbers to the equation.
One of the concerns for Polish companies is the extension or tightening of sustainability criteria for the production of energy from biomass. Further limits on the type of feedstock to be used for energy production and expanding the sustainability criteria to include smaller installations may jeopardize the achievement of renewable targets. Speaking about targets, we have to bear in mind, that one of the considered options is to increase the current target relating to renewable energy in heating and cooling, at the same time making it binding, and in district heating and cooling.
This, accompanied with the possibility of amending the definition of ‘efficient district heating and cooling’ under the Energy Efficiency Directive framework to remove the possibility to satisfy the definition with natural gas high-efficiency cogeneration, may be a big burden for the development of centralised heating and cooling large-scale systems, which help meet urban energy needs, improve efficiency, reduce emissions and air pollutions and provide cost-effective temperature control. Poland has a very well-developed district heating system as approx. 40% of households are connected to them. Moreover, CHP plants may achieve efficiency levels of around 90%, reducing primary energy consumption and significantly contributing to the establishment of efficient heating and cooling systems providing clean district heat to numerous end users.
Continue Reading
#News#CHP#DistrictEnergy#Poland