Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 64 (2016) 19–33
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
Wind energy in Poland – History, current state, surveys, Renewable Energy Sources Act, SWOT analysis
Bartłomiej Igliński n, Anna Iglińska, Grzegorz Koziński, Mateusz Skrzatek, Roman Buczkowski
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Toruń, Poland article info abstract
Article history: The history, current state and prospects for the development of the wind power sector in Poland have Received 19 February 2016 been presented. Poland has a long tradition of using wooden windmills, mainly post mills for economic Received in revised form purposes. Basing on the data of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, the speed of wind 12 May 2016 was calculated in Poland at a height of 100 m. The highest wind speed in Poland is noted in the northern Accepted 23 May 2016 part, the central part and, most of all, in the south-western part. In the December 2015 there were 1016 wind installations in Poland of total power of 5100 MW in Poland. There are also 37 wind farms. At the Keywords: largest farm – Margonin – there are 60 wind turbines in operation, each of power of 2 MW. The new Wind energy formal and legal framework for the wind power sector in Poland was described in relation to the new Poland Renewable Energy Sources Act (RES Act). The new regulations on funding the wind power sector; that is, Windmill an auction system, were presented. The outcomes of the sociometric surveys conducted among investors Wind turbine RES Act were described. The SWOT analysis of the wind power sector in Poland was presented. The three sce- SWOT analysis narios of the development of the wind power sector in Poland were described. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction...... 2 2. Use of wind energy in windmills in Poland ...... 2 2.1. Trestle post mills – design and operation ...... 3 3. Recent development in renewable energy sector in Poland ...... 4 4. The wind power sector in Poland – the current state ...... 5 5. The development of the wind power sector in Poland in relation to the new Act on RES ...... 6 6. The wind power sector in Poland – survey research...... 8 7. SWOT analysis of the wind power sector in Poland ...... 8 7.1. Strenghths...... 8 7.2. Weaknesses...... 10 7.3. Opportunities...... 11 7.4. Threats...... 12 8. Discussion...... 12 9. Conclusions ...... 14 References...... 14
n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ48 56 611 43 31; fax: þ48 56 654 24 77. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Igliński). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.05.081 1364-0321/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 20 B. Igliński et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 64 (2016) 19–33
1. Introduction
Since the Digital Revolution, which commenced in the middle of the 20th century, there has been a systematic global increase in demand for energy. This growth is exponential and, according to various forecasts for the near future, energy demand will reach 599 EJ in 2020 and 657 EJ in 2025 [1]. Wind power has been used by people since a long time ago. Along with the Sun, wind has been used to dry among others agricultural crops. The immense force of wind inspired our ancestors to harness it for economic purposes. Not many people realise that the great geographical exploration was possible due to wind energy that powered the sailing ships. Wooden windmills were used to grind grain, water or dry the fields [2,3]. The first description of a windmill used to transport water was Fig. 1. Installed capacity per capita in 2015 in top five countries and in Poland created in India 400 BC; in China windmills in the shape of a [W/cap] (own calculations). windlass were used to water the fields 200 BC. At the beginning of saw good performance with 8.6 GW of added capacity. Germany, in the AD era windmills appeared in China and in the Mediterranean anticipation of changes in legislation, installed 4.9 GW. Wind countries. The year 644 AD is considered to be the date of the first power contributed a new record of 13% of the country's power documented reference to windmills. The Persians ground grain by demand in 2015. Brazil was the fourth largest market for new means of windmills since the 6th century AD. Unlike the con- turbines with a market volume of 2.8 GW. India saw 2.3 GW of struction design that became widespread in Europe, the Persian new installations by November 2015, enough to bypass Spain as windmills had sails moving on a horizontal plane on a vertical fourth largest market in terms of total capacity [9]. cylinder. In the 8th century in the whole of Europe windmills with Fig. 1 represents the installed power of wind farms per person. four sails appeared. The Dutch specialised in this type of con- The unquestionable leader is Denmark (888 W/cap). According to struction [2,3]. our calculations, Poland had the power of 132 W per person. The industrial development meant that new sources of elec- It is also worth mentioning that the global market of small tricity were sought. At the turn of 1887/1888 Charles F. Brush built wind turbines is developing very well. It is estimated [10] that the first automatic wind turbine that produced electricity. The there are at least 870,000 of small wind turbines in the world, power plant was constructed from cedar wood and consisted of with an annual increase of 8–10%. Around 625,000 turbines 144 blades, had 17 m diameter and weighed 80 tonnes. Brush's operate in China, 157,700 in the USA, 24,000 in Great Britain, power plant operated for 20 years and powered accumulators. 14,500 in Germany, 11,000 in Canada, and about 3,200 turbines in Despite its large size, the power plant had the power of 12 kW, Poland [10–12]. which was due to using a multi-turn and multi-blade rotor [4]. The aim of this paper is to examine the history, current state The wind energy sector plays an increasingly more important part in the global economy. Low fossil fuel prices had no negative and prospects for the development of the wind power sector in impact on the wind sector. Wind power leads the way among Poland. Included is the description of sociometric surveys sent to environmentally-friendly methods of power generation in the both the companies [13] and the owners of wind turbines [14]. The world [5–8]. The global growth rate was 16.4% in 2014 and 17.2% in research presented in the paper is the continuation of further 2015. Poland, Brazil, China and Turkey were the most dynamic investigations into bioenergy in Poland [15], geothermal energy in countries and saw the strongest growth rates (Table 1). China is a Poland [16] and solar power in Poland [17] carried out by our world leader in wind power generation – in adding 33 GW of new research team. The wind power sector already plays a huge part in power capacity. This represents a market share of 51.8%. The US market generation in Poland. Along with hydropower, solar energy and biomass energy, wind power is a part of the energy mix in Poland. Table 1 Top 15 countries by total wind installations [9]. The high price of Polish coal and its negative environmental impact result in ever growing support for the renewable energy in Position Country Total capacity Added capacity Growth rate the Polish society. As the new Act on Renewable Energy Sources in 2015 [MW] [MW] 2015 [%] Poland came into force, a new SWOT analysis new bill on wind 1. China 148,000 32,970 29.0 power investment in Poland were also presented. The strategy for 2. United Sates 74,347 8598 13.1 the development of wind power sector in Poland for the coming 3. Germany 45,192 4919 11.7 years was presented. 4. India 24,759 2294 10.2 5. Spain 22,987 0 0.0 6. United 13,614 1174 9.4 Kingdom 2. Use of wind energy in windmills in Poland 7. Canada 11,205 1511 15.6 8. France 10,293 997 10.7 9. Italy 8958 295 3.4 Wind turbines used to harness renewable energy are becoming 10. Brazil 8715 2754 46.2 more frequent in Poland. It is worth mentioning that wooden 11. Sweden 6025 615 11.1 windmills have been known in Poland for a few hundred years. 12. Poland 5100 1266 33.0 According to Gloger [18], windmills were introduced to Poland 13. Portugal 5079 126 2.5 ł 14. Denmark 5064 217 3.7 from the west whilst Ma yszczycki [19], Sackiewicz [20] and 15. Turkey 4718 955 25.4 Klaczyński [21] see their origin in the east. The 15th century Rest of the 40,800 5000 14.0 images of windmills that were found in Poland unequivocally World indicate the type of a windmill with a horizontal axis, which is a TOTAL 434,856 63,690 17.2 western type. B. Igliński et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 64 (2016) 19–33 21
The first preserved documents related to the economic use of ones fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance after the war. wind power date back to the 13th century. The first document is a According to Pawlik [27], in 1954 there were 3280 windmills, of construction permit for mills powered by water or wind granted to which only 63 were deemed fit for exploitation. The centuries – the monastery in Biały Buk (the north-western Poland) by prince long tradition of windmills in Poland came to an end. Well- Wiesław of Rügen [22]. Although the note mentioned earlier preserved windmills can nowadays be found mainly in open-air cannot be treated as evidence of a windmill construction, it proves ethnographic museums. the knowledge of harnessing wind power to move millstones. It is Windmills used in Poland are characterised by various con- the document in which the Pomeranian princes gave the Cistercian struction designs. Post mills, which can be found throughout monastery in Szczecin seven water mills and land between the Poland, have a stationary base on which mounted is a huge sta- monastery and the water windmill [22]. In the 14th century tionary axis around which the whole mill building rotates. This windmills became an integral part of Poland [23]. In 1303 a category includes trestle post mills (in Polish known as koźlak type windmill was in use in Kobylin (between Wroclaw and Poznań) of a mill) and Sokółka types of a windmill [26]. [22], another source is from Wschowa, dates back to 1325 and concerns the ownership of mills, including a windmill for 2.1. Trestle post mills – design and operation Wschowa. In 1377 a permit was granted to construct two windmills in the The trestle post mill is the oldest type of a European windmill vicinity of Chojnice. In 1394 the chapter of Bishopric of Pomerania and the most common windmill in Poland. It was first constructed gave permission to construct a windmill in Rusinowo near Kwid- in Belgium or northern France in the 12th century; however, its zyn. In 1396 the Malbork convent gave permission to build a prototype can be found in the 7th century in China and Persia. The Ś ę ń windmill in wi ta Lipka near Gda sk [24]. trestle (in Polish kozioł) was a special base supporting a post – a fi The rst images of windmills in Poland also date back to the vertical axis around which the whole building and machinery 14th century. An example of these is found on a seal (Fig. 2) rotated so as to align the sails according to the wind. A more attached to a document from 1382; the seal itself thus could be durable brick or stone construction replaced the wooden trestle, even older [25,26]. Despite the obvious simplicity of the image, it especially from the 19th century onwards. Concrete was later used is easy to identify certain construction details: sails, a vertical for the same purpose. A wooden 8–9 m long rod (in Polish known wooden post around which the whole building rotated known as as dyszel – a drawbar or łogon) attached by one end to the inner sztember as well as mill's trestles. This type of a windmill, with a beams of the windmill and specially supported at the other end horizontal rotation axis and vertically aligned sails, is a western was used in order to rotate a windmill. At the outer end of the type of a windmill. wooden rod there was a chain attached to a wheel and axle. When The number of windmills increased regularly in the following the rod approached the wheel and axle, the setting was stopped, centuries; however, this increase was spread unevenly in different the chain was unwound and the wheel and axle device was moved regions. In places with adequate hydrographic conditions water to an already prepared location where the wheel and axle would mills dominated, which was due to their greater efficiency and stay in place during its operation. Horses were sometimes used reliability. The greatest boom of windmills in Poland took place in instead of a wheel and axle. Sails powered by wind were most the 19th century as a result of numerous favourable administrative often employed to move the devices to grind grain for flour. The regulations. The enfranchisement of peasants took place in all rotation speed was regulated by removing (in order to lower the parts of Poland under partition; there was no longer an obligation speed) or by adding (to increase the speed) wood staves on the for the inhabitants of a given village to grind their grain in an mill's sails. The trestle construction consisted of two crossing allocated mill. The technological development meant that wind- ground beams (known in Polish as przyciesie). In the place where mills were increasingly built to meet the own needs of a farm ground beams crossed, joined with a complex cruciform joint, a [23,26]. huge vertical axis was erected (known in Polish as sztember), at The Polish sector of windmills was virtually destroyed as a the end of which there were four runners reaching the bottom result of World War II. In 1939 there were over 7000 windmills in edge of the ground beams. The vertical axis – sztember was operation, of which 60% was totally obliterated. The remaining usually made of pine wood and less often of oak wood [23,26]. A trestle post mill could grind between 60 and 70 tonnes of grain during 120–150 windy days. The whole post mill was made of wood with the outside most often covered with shingles. A trestle post mill had three floors – the bottom one housed the stabilising construction of a trestle and the two top floors were assigned to flour production (the mill stones were contained on the middle floor). The shingle-covered walls did not initially reach the ground (due to cost and weight) and exposed the trestle, which could be seen from a distance. Post mills appeared in Poland as early as in the 14th century, the earliest in the regions of Wielkopolska and Kujawy. Their use was already widespread in the 15th century. Without major design changes, they survived as long as the second half of the 19th century. Fig. 3 represents a trestle post mill located in the Museum of the Mazovian Coun- tryside in Sierpc. The windmill was constructed circa 1860 and was brought to the open-air ethnographic museum from nearby Zalesie [28]. A different type of a windmill is the Sokółka type of a windmill, which can only be found in the vicinity of Sokółka in the north- east of Poland. In terms of the structure of buildings and inner Fig. 2. An image of a windmill on the seal from 1382 [23,26]. mechanisms, they are similar to trestle post mills. Their stone base 22 B. Igliński et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 64 (2016) 19–33
Fig. 3. A trestle post mill in the Museum of the Mazovian Countryside in Sierpc Fig. 4. A statue of a windmill in the Museum of the Mazovian Countryside in Sierpc (photography: B. Igliński). (photography: B. Igliński). in the shape of a truncated cone is another characteristic feature of “wiatraki” (windmills) in both ballroom dancing and group dan- this type of a windmill [28]. cing [28]. Drainage scoop windmills were used to remove the excess water. In Poland drainage scoop windmills were found mainly in the Żuławy region; unfortunately, none survived in this area. A 3. Recent development in renewable energy sector in Poland trestle post mill was the most popular and simplest type of a drainage windmill in the Żuławy region. Its small working build- After World War II the renewable energy in Poland was solely ing, which had the form similar to a cube and which was placed on provided by the hydropower sector and its percentage did not a wooden or brick foundation, was rotated towards the wind. exceed 2%. For more than a decade other types of RES have been Drainage scoop windmills were placed at the canals equipped with developed in Poland: bioenergy, solar power and, most of all, wind appropriate sluice gates. Sluice troughs were slightly wider than power. The renewable energy sector in Poland has been recently the blades of a wheel. Using these troughs, rotating scoops pushed developing increasingly dynamically. The percentage of primary water to an adjacent to a windmill, higher reservoir. During renewable energy kept systematically increasing in Poland in drought periods, the wheels rotated in the opposite direction – 2000–2015 (Fig. 5) [29–31]. their function changed from drainage to irrigation [28]. The renewable energy sector in Poland is developing in accor- Throughout centuries, including the present times, windmills dance with the government's guidelines. According to the National have been frequently represented in pictures and sculpture. Fig. 4 Renewable Energy Action Plan [32] the power of renewable energy represents a small windmill statue, which is a part of the exhibi- installations in Poland was supposed to reach 5204 MW in 2014, tion in the Museum of the Mazovian Countryside in Sierpc but the power was actually bigger – 6029 MW. This was mainly (summer 2012). caused by the much quicker development of wind power plants It is worth mentioning that in Poland millers enjoyed great than originally assumed; their total power reached 3834 MW at authority in the countryside; they tended to be rather wealthy. A the end of 2014. windmill was not only a place where services were offered, but It is worth mentioning that in December 2015 in Poland there also where all kinds of business were made. It can be even said were 747 hydropower plants of total power of 980 MW, 36 bio- that it was the centre of social life. Due to their comfortable eco- mass power plants of total power of 1008 MW, 259 biogas power nomic situation, millers were the first to introduce new tools or plants of power of 152 MW [33] and 1016 wind power installations crops in their smallholding. Plenty of evidence that has survived of total power of 5100 MW. until the present times suggests that throughout nearly six cen- According to Poland's Energy Policy until 2030 [34], a balanced turies wooden windmills played an important part in the lives of use of different types of renewable energy will be supported. In Poles. This is exemplified by local names (e.g. a locality of Śmigło terms of biomass utilisation, a particular preference will be given (Rotor) in the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship) or dance styles to the most energy efficient solutions, among others, those using B. Igliński et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 64 (2016) 19–33 23
Fig. 5. The percentage of RES in energy production in Poland (own calculations based on: [30,31]).
different gasification techniques and conversion into liquid fuels, especially second generation biofuels. With regard to the wind power sector, its development is planned both on land and off shore. This is supposed to result in: Fig. 6. Wind speed in Poland at 100 m (own calculations).