Poland Power Generation
Poland’s 42 GW capacity electrical power generation system is the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. Almost eighty percent of Poland’s electricity is produced by hard and brown coal fired power plants that primarily are powered by Polish coal. The bulk of Poland’s coal-fired power plants were built between1960-1980, and now they are worn-out and don’t meet the EU’s strict environmental requirements for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
By 2025, 10GW of outdated coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned and replaced by modern plants. Three large high-efficient coal-fired power plants with 3,160 MW in combined power output, have recently been completed. The plants are located in Kozienice (1075 MW), Opole (2x900 MW), and Jaworzno (910 MW). Several other projects are under development, including Turow lignite-fired power plant (450 MW), Ostroleka hard coal-fired power plant (1,000 MW) and coal-fired Pulawy CHP. It is expected that construction of Ostroleka power plant will be the last coal -fired power plant investment in Poland.
The share of natural gas in Poland’s power generation mix has grown steadily during last several years and achieved 5.8% in 2018, compared to 4.32% in 2017. This growing trend should be maintained in the coming years. There are numerous gas-fired power plants under construction in Poland, including Zeran CHP plant (490 MW) and Stalowa Wola CHP plant (450 MW). Two large gas-fired power plants are in the tendering process – Dolna Odra (2x700 MW) and Grudziadz (750 MW).
In 2009, Poland began to develop the civil nuclear power program. Initially, the program was implemented by the state-owned power concern PGE, who envisaged construction of two nuclear power plants by 2035, each with an output of 3,000 MW. The program has been significantly delayed and is subject to redefinition by the government. The current plan envisions building of six nuclear reactors, with an output capacity of 6-9GW by 2043.
The first reactor, with an expected output of 1-1.5 GW is expected to be operational in 2033. The remaining five reactors are expected to come online every two years, with project completion by 2043. The Ministry of Energy estimates the cost of Poland’s nuclear power program at $60 billion and is looking for foreign technology providers to offer 50% of its project financing. The Owner’s Engineer and Site Characterization tenders for the nuclear project development have already been completed, and the environmental analysis are being performed at the sites selected in Zarnowiec and Lubiatowo-Kopalino.
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