Water as a Source of Electricity in Poland

Abstract

Water is an essential ingredient of our lives as it plays a key role in all biological and industrial processes, agriculture, transport, electricity and heat generation, and other areas of life. The article aims to show the importance of water in electricity production in Poland. As we know, hydropower is one of the oldest forms of energy generation, as it has been used to power watermills from ancient times. Nowadays it is used differently. In Poland, hydropower is underdeveloped. The total installed power in commercial hydropower plants is only 2,292.2 MW, including 1,792.3 in pumped-storage power plants. The production of electricity in hydroelectric power plants in Poland is less than 2 TWh, constituting only 0.6% of the annual electricity production. Poland has over 700 hydroelectric power plants, but most of them are small hydropower plants with less than 5 MW of power. The largest hydroelectric power plants in Poland are Żarnowiec, Porąbka-Żar, and Solina power plants, the latter being a part of the Solina–Myczkowce hydroelectric power plant. All of them are pumped storage power plants. According to global forecasts, despite the rapid growth of photovoltaics and wind power, hydropower will remain the world's largest source of renewable electricity generation until 2030.