Electricity Generation from Renewable Energy Sources in Poland As a Part of Commitment to the Polish and EU Energy Policy
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energies Article Electricity Generation from Renewable Energy Sources in Poland as a Part of Commitment to the Polish and EU Energy Policy Józef Paska 1,*, Tomasz Surma 2, Paweł Terlikowski 1 and Krzysztof Zagrajek 1 1 Institute of Electrical Power Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Str. Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] (P.T.); [email protected] (K.Z.) 2 CEZ Polska, Al. Jerozolimskie 63, 00-697 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 14 June 2020; Accepted: 14 August 2020; Published: 18 August 2020 Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the state of development of renewable energy sources (RES) in Poland in accordance with the obligations of European Union energy policy. The EU Member States are obliged to adopt different support mechanisms for the development of renewable energy sources, and in consequence to achieve their Directive’s targets. Poland, being a Member State of the EU since 2004, has accepted a target of a 15% share of energy generated from renewable energy sources in final energy consumption, including 19.3% from renewable electricity until 2020. Due to the difficulties with target achievement, the authors found it reasonable to analyze the challenge of RES development in Poland. The article presents energy policy in the EU, as well as the review of measures implemented for renewable energy development. The current state of and perspectives on using renewable energy sources in Poland and in the EU are also depicted. In the article, the authors analyze the relation between reference prices at dedicated RES auctions in Poland and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The paper also provides a description of the renewable energy sources’ development in three areas: electricity, heat and transport biofuels. Its main content, though, refers to the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources. Keywords: renewable energy sources; electricity generation; energy policy; electricity market; Poland; European Union 1. Introduction Renewable energy sources (RES) are currently one of the pillars of energy development worldwide [1]. Their utilization contributes to the process of industry de-carbonization, thanks to much smaller amounts of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2)[2]. However, it has to be remembered that their widespread use also raises many challenges for the electricity sector [3]. According to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the total installed capacity of renewable energy sources worldwide in 2019 was 2537 GW [4]. Solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind energy are mainstream options in the power sector, with an increasing number of countries generating more than 20% of their electricity with solar PV and wind. Almost half of this installed capacity—1118.969 GW—is located in Asia, including 758.626 GW in China. Europe has 573.266 GW of renewable capacity installed. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the further increase in the new capacity of renewable sources to be approximately 160 GW in 2020, and 190 GW in 2021 [5]. As mentioned previously, Europe is investing heavily in renewable energy sources. This is related to the strategy that the European Union has adopted in the battle against excessive CO2 emissions, at the same time boosting the transition to a low-carbon economy [6,7]. This has also been confirmed Energies 2020, 13, 4261; doi:10.3390/en13164261 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies Energies 2020, 13, 4261 2 of 31 by documents endorsed by the EU Parliament. The transition towards energy generation from low or zero emission sources in the EU was implemented in 1997 with the adoption of the White Paper [8]. Its introduction was aimed at impeding the import of coal, often of low quality, from outside the EU, and also at the introduction of the widely understood de-carbonization of the energy sector. Since 1997, in the scope of the promotion of renewable energy sources, the emphasis shifted from indicative targets (to be achieved in 2010) to legal targets. The aim is to define the basic legal framework for the transition from 2020’s into 2030’s perspectives, including a complex internal energy market mechanism [9]. Meanwhile, due to the dynamic development of renewable energy sources, new or revised support mechanisms for the construction of RES sources have been established. Before 2010, the development of renewable energy was regulated by a legal framework which set indicative targets for each Member State. Directive 2001/77/EC of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market [10] set national indicative targets to be achieved by the EU for the share of renewable energy in electricity production at 21% by 2010. Directive 2003/30/EC of 8 May 2003, on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels [11], set national indicative targets to be achieved by the EU for the share of renewable energy replacing petrol and diesel in transport at 5.75% by 2010. Due to the rather small impact of the introduction of Directive 2003/30/EC, as well as the lack of commitment of Member States to the achievement of the targets for renewable energy sources, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the European Commission started working on a new Directive which defined the next step of the development of renewable energy sources in 2010–2020. It introduced provisions setting the mandatory targets and commitments of Member States. The directive was supported by the European Commission, EU Council and European Parliament [12]. In 2009, a new Directive (2009/28/EU) on the promotion of energy production from renewable energy sources was introduced [13]. Its provisions brought about a complete change of approach in the RES sector and in the functioning of the energy market [14]. The introduction of Directive 2009/28/EU unified the regulations and additionally introduced provisions concerning the production of heating and cooling from RES. Therefore, the new regulations allow the covering of all areas for RES development, electricity, heating and cooling and biofuels. Directive 2009/28/EU defines common objectives for the aforementioned areas, while offering the Member States flexibility in the implementation of individual solutions. However, it should be mentioned that the obligation of 10% use of biofuels in the transport sector was imposed. Figure1 presents the objectives provided in the DirectiveEnergies for each 2020, 1 of3, xthe FOR MemberPEER REVIEW States, as well as the output in the base year [13,15]. 3 of 31 Figure 1.Figure2020 1.0s 202 targets0′s targets and and share share of of renewable renewable energyenergy generation generation in inthethe base base year year2005 [ 200513,15] [.13 ,15]. Table 1 presents targets and their realization in Member States. The EU as whole was, in 2018, on track to achieve the 2020 target, and countries like Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden had achieved their targets before the expected date. In the following part of this article, the matter of RES target implementation by Poland is addressed in detail. Table 1. Share of renewable energy in final energy consumption (%) [16,17]. Member State 2005 2010 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 Target Belgium 2.3 5.6 8 7.9 8.7 9.1 9.4 13 Bulgaria 9.2 13.9 18 18.2 18.8 18.7 20.5 16 Czech Republic 7.1 10.5 15 15 14.9 14.8 15.1 13 Denmark 16.0 21.9 29.6 31 32.2 35.0 36.1 30 Germany 7.2 11.7 13.8 14.6 14.8 15.5 16.5 18 Estonia 17.4 24.6 26.3 28.6 28.8 29.1 30.0 25 Ireland 2.8 5.7 8.7 9.2 9.5 10.6 11.1 16 Greece 7.3 10.1 15.3 15.4 15.2 17.0 18.0 18 Spain 8.4 13.8 16.1 16.2 17.3 17.6 17.4 20 France 9.6 12.7 14.7 15.1 16 16.0 16.6 23 Croatia 23.7 25.1 27.8 29 28.3 27.3 28.0 20 Italy 7.5 13.0 17.1 17.5 17.4 18.3 17.8 17 Cyprus 3.1 6.2 8.9 9.4 9.3 10.5 13.9 13 Latvia 32.3 30.4 38.7 37.6 37.2 39.0 40.3 40 Lithuania 16.8 19.6 23.6 25.8 25.6 26.0 24.4 23 Luxembourg 1.4 2.9 4.5 5 5.4 6.3 9.1 11 Hungary 6.9 12.7 14.6 14.4 14.2 13.5 12.5 13 Malta 0.1 1.0 4.7 5 6 7.3 8.0 10 Netherlands 2.5 3.9 5.5 5.8 6 6.5 7.4 14 Austria 24.4 31.2 33 32.8 33.5 33.1 33.4 34 Poland 6.9 9.3 11.5 11.7 11.3 11.0 11.3 15 Energies 2020, 13, 4261 3 of 31 Now, in 2020, it is important to assess whether these goals have been achieved. Preliminary data shows that some Member States had already successfully met their targets ahead of schedule, while some may have difficulties meeting them before the end of 2020. The current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic affects the electricity market. With the introduction of the pandemic regime, in many power systems electricity consumption decreased. In March–April 2020, when the COVID virus has started to spread in the European Union, demand for electricity decreased by about 10–30%.