Polityka Energetyczna - Energy Policy Journal

The article presents the question of solidarity in relation to the energy policy of the European Union. This topic seems particularly important in the context of the crisis of the European integration process, which includes, in particular, economic problems, the migration crisis and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit). The issue of solidarity was analyzed from the legal and formal, institutional, and functional and relational points of view. The aim of the article is to show to what extent the theoretical assumptions, resulting from the provisions of European law on the solidarity, correspond with the actions of the Member States in the energy sector. The practice of the integration process indicates that the particular national economic interests in the energy sector are more important for the Member States than working towards European solidarity. Meanwhile, without a sense of responsibility for the pan-European interest, it is not possible to effectively implement the EU’s energy policy. The European Commission – as the guardian of the treaties – confronts the Member States with ambitious challenges to be undertaken “in the spirit of solidarity”. In the verbal sphere, this is supported by by capitals of the individual countries, but in practice, the actions taken divide the Member States into opposing camps instead of building a sense of the European energy community. This applies in particular to such issues as: the management of the energy union, investments in the gas sector (e.g. Nord Stream I and Nord Stream II), and the position towards third countries – suppliers of energy raw materials to the EU (in particular towards the Russian Federation). Different views on the above problems make it extremely difficult for Member States to take action “in the spirit of energy solidarity”. Thus, the energy problem becomes another reason for the weakening of European unity.

The second decade of the 21st century is a period of intense development of various types of energy storage other than pumped-storage hydroelectricity. Battery and thermal storage systems are particularly rapidly developing ones. The observed phenomenon is a result of a key megatrend, i.e. the development of intermittent renewable energy sources (IRES) (wind power, photovoltaics). The development of RES, mainly in the form of distributed generation, combined with the dynamic development of electric mobility, results in the need to stabilize the grid frequency and voltage and calls for new solutions in order to ensure the security of energy supplies. High maturity, appropriate technical parameters, and increasingly better economic parameters of lithium battery technology (including lithium-ion batteries) result in a rapid increase of the installed capacity of this type of energy storage. The abovementioned phenomena helped to raise the question about the prospects for the development of electricity storage in the world and in Poland in the 2030 horizon. The estimated worldwide battery energy storage capacity in 2030 is ca. 51.1 GW, while in the case of Poland it is approximately 410.6 MW.

Until the early 1990s, the domestic power industry was a natural monopoly. This was caused by the specificity of the operation of the electricity transmission and distribution sub sectors, technical challenges of coordinating the operation of generating units and transmission networks, requirements regarding long-term forecasting of the industry development, and returns to scale. In view of the above, the objective of the presented paper is to assess the economic situation of energy companies operating in a competitive electricity market. The article analyses the main areas of activity of the energy companies, i.e.: the areas of production, transmission, distribution, and sales. In addition, the market shares of the various energy companies, in terms of generating capacity and the amount of the energy produced, were analyzed. Furthermore, the technical and economic situation of enterprises operating in the power sector was also subjected to analysis. The mentioned analysis has revealed that the profit received from the main activity of the enterprises (i.e. the sale of electricity) has decreased in recent years. What is more, the energy sector must adapt to legal and regulatory changes related to the intensification of the decarbonization policy pursued by the European Commission. Therefore, national energy should focus on developing skills in the areas of innovation, such as: electro mobility, energy storage, energy management, etc.

The Energy Law of April 10, 1997 initiated changes in the energy market in Poland. Actions taken on the basis of this law were aimed at the modernization and development of the power sector. Organizational and legal changes causing the development of distributed generation, thus increasing the level of market competition have been introduced. The care for high quality of customer service, including the protection of vulnerable customers, environmental protection, growing share of renewable energy and emission reduction requirements have become a reality. It seems, therefore, that it is necessary for the Polish energy sector to undergo permanent modernization, to develop the production and industrial infrastructure and to develop modern conventional technologies by way of implementing innovations in the field of energy companies. The author of the paper argues that it is indispensable to make a broadly understood transfer of knowledge and technology to the energy sector on the basis of a knowledge-based economy. This also applies to energy clusters, which currently constitute a platform for cooperation: entrepreneurs, scientific-research units, and public authorities. The functioning of these entities is an important catalyst for the transfer of knowledge and technologies. Their regional nature boosts competitiveness of the involved enterprises, and is a natural way of transferring knowledge to the energy market.

Article investigates the issue of terms of trade in energy products. The goal of this paper is to check how the terms of trade in energy fluctuate. The analysis is carried out on the example of Poland as a country which offers an interesting energy imports and exports structure. The time horizon covers the period from 2005–2015 and is extended to give the broader picture of the phenomenon wherever possible. In the research, the author uses the barter terms of trade concept. The paper has been organized in four sections. The study opens with introductory remarks presenting Polish energy situation, which is followed by a description of the terms of trade concept on the grounds of international economics. The results of the research are discussed in section three which ends with a summary and conclusions. The last part includes an additional description of study constraints and suggestions the next research steps. The statistical data used in the paper comes from national databases of the Polish Central Statistical Office and international sources such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Additional information on energy prices was derived from recognized branch sources such as BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

The sustainable management of energy production and consumption is one of the main challenges of the 21st century. This results from the threats to the natural environment, including the negative impact of the energy sector on the climate, the limited resources of fossil fuels, as well as the unstability of renewable energy sources – despite the development of technologies for obtaining energy from the: sun, wind, water, etc. In this situation, the efficiency of energy management, both on the micro (dispersed energy) and macro (power system) scale, may be improved by innovative technological solutions enabling energy storage. Their effective implementation enables energy storage during periods of overproduction and its use in the case of energy shortages. These challenges cannot be overestimated. Modern science needs to solve various technological issues in the field of storage, organizational problems of enterprises producing electricity and heat, or issues related to the functioning of energy markets. The article presents the specificity of the operation of a combined heat and power plant with a heat accumulator in the electricity market while taking the parameters affected by uncertainty into account. It was pointed out that the analysis of the risk associated with energy prices and weather conditions is an important element of the decision-making process and management of a heat and power plant equipped with a cold water heat accumulator. The complexity of the issues and the number of variables to be analyzed at a given time are the reason for the use of advanced forecasting methods. The stochastic modeling methods are considered as interesting tools that allow forecasting the operation of an installation with a heat accumulator while taking the influence of numerous variables into account. The analysis has shown that the combined use of Monte Carlo simulations and forecasting using the geometric Brownian motion enables the quantification of the risk of the CHP plant’s operation and the impact of using the energy store on solving uncertainties. The applied methodology can be used at the design stage of systems with energy storage and enables carrying out the risk analysis in the already existing systems; this will allow their efficiency to be improved. The introduction of additional parameters of the planned investments to the analysis will allow the maximum use of energy storage systems in both industrial and dispersed power generation.

The aim of the paper is to draw attention to risks and challenges faced by the national grid infrastructure both in the area of transmission and distribution. The study presents the characteristics of the network grid in the area of transmission and distribution. The threats concerning the transmission and distribution infrastructure were also discussed. Both the national transmission and the distribution grids are adapted to presently occurring typical conditions of the demand on electricity and to the execution of internal tasks in normal states, but they may pose a potential threat to the security of the energy supplies. In the context of the forecasted future growth of the electricity demand, the insufficient capacity of the National Power System in domestic sources and sources available through interconnections, the uneven distribution of sources and customers with the lack of adequate grid transmission capacity, the necessity to improve the quality and reliability of energy supply to end users and to intensively develop renewable energy sources, the current grid infrastructure in the area of transmission and distribution will be insufficient. It will be necessary to expand and modernize the 400 and 220 kV transmission grid, the 110 kV distribution grid, in large urban agglomerations in particular, the MV distribution grid in rural areas in particular, and to implement investments aimed at increasing the export and import capacities of the National Power System. The paper presents challenges faced by transmission and distribution system operators. They mainly concern the field of investments and the area related to the preparation and implementation of investments in the grid. These challenges result from national legislation which is inappropriate and imposes many legal and administrative barriers substantially limiting the speed and effectiveness of the investment process.

Gasification technology is often seen as a synonym for the clean and efficient processing of solid fuels into combustible gas containing mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the two basic components of synthesis gas. First and foremost, the facts that gas may be cleaned and that a mixture with any composition may be prepared in a relatively easy and inexpensive manner influence the possibility of using gas produced in the energy and chemical industries. In the energy industry, gas may be used directly to generate heat and electricity in the systems of a steam power plant or in combined cycle systems. It is also possible to effectively separate CO2 from the system. However, in chemistry, synthesis gas may be used to produce hydrogen, methanol, synthetic gasolines, and other chemical products. The raw material for gasification is full-quality pulverized coal, but a possibility of processing low-quality sludges, combustible fractions separated from municipal waste as well as industrial waste also exists. Despite such a wide application of technology and undoubted advantages thereof, making investment decisions is still subject to high uncertainty. The paper presents the main technological applications of gasification and analyzes the economic effectiveness thereof. In this context, significant challanges for the industrial implementation of this technology are discussed

The article presents the results of the analysis of straw obtained from ripening wheat, which was subjected to four water soaking cycles in demineralized water. The soaking was carried out under laboratory conditions at 20°C. As a result, part of mineral matter, including a significant amount of alkaline sodium and potassium salts and substances containing sulfur and phosphorus, was washed out. The process of soaking has a great impact on the chemical composition of ash obtained from water-treated straw, which increased its acidity. The Na2O content in the analyzed ash has decreased by 78%, while the K2O content has decreased by 60%. In turn, the content of water-insoluble, acid-forming SiO2 has increased by 80%. As a consequence, a positive change in the values of indices, on the basis of which the tendency of straw to slagging and deposit formation during the combustion and gasification processes is assessed, has been observed. Already after the second water soaking cycle it became apparent, based on the AI alkali index, that the examined fuel should not cause difficulties resulting from the increased intensity of use of the boiler during the combustion process. Meanwhile, the value of the BAI bed agglomeration index was considered to be safe, indicating a low possibility of bed agglomeration during the combustion or fluidized bed gasification, after the third water soaking cycle. The third of the analyzed indices, the Fu fouling index, did not indicate any tendency to deposit formation during the combustion; however, four water soaking cycles reduced its initial value by 80%. The last of the analyzed indexes, the SR, slag viscosity index did not change its value during the experiment, which, both for the raw straw and after subsequent soaking cycles, indicated that the fuel should have a low tendency to accumulate slag during the combustion process.

The dynamic development of wind power in recent years has generated the demand for production forecasting tools in wind farms. The data obtained from mathematical models is useful both for wind farm owners and distribution and transmission system operators. The predictions of production allow the wind farm operator to control the operation of the turbine in real time or plan future repairs and maintenance work in the long run. In turn, the results of the forecasting model allow the transmission system operator to plan the operation of the power system and to decide whether to reduce the load of conventional power plants or to start the reserve units.

The presented article is a review of the currently applied methods of wind power generation forecasting. Due to the nature of the input data, physical and statistical methods are distinguished. The physical approach is based on the use of data related to atmospheric conditions, terrain, and wind farm characteristics. It is usually based on numerical weather prediction models (NWP). In turn, the statistical approach uses historical data sets to determine the dependence of output variables on input parameters. However, the most favorable, from the point of view of the quality of the results, are models that use hybrid approaches. Determining the best model turns out to be a complicated task, because its usefulness depends on many factors. The applied model may be highly accurate under given conditions, but it may be completely unsuitable for another wind farm.