Green energy
The green revolution in Poland is progressing. Already, the installed capacity of renewable energy sources has reached the level of over 24 GW. And this is still only the beginning of the transformation process. It is possible that in 2040, renewables and nuclear power will account for 74 per cent of total capacity of the market. Poland has a chance to become a production hub for infrastructure used in the renewable energy sector. The same is true of hydrogen, where Poland already have a lot to say.
Hydrogen is the future
Hydrogen is undoubtedly the fuel of the future. According to the data of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, 1.3 million tonnes of hydrogen are produced annually in Poland. This gives us the fifth place in the world and the third place in the European Union (after Germany and the Netherlands). Grey hydrogen is produced in the process of reforming natural gas or as part of oil refining, and its main producers in Poland are PKN Orlen and Grupa Azoty. In 2022, the Płock-based company launched its first mobile hydrogen refuelling station in Kraków and plans to spend PLN 7.4 billion on investments in this segment.
The solution of the future will be the large-scale use of the so-called green hydrogen, which is obtained by electrolysis of water using energy from renewable sources, as an energy carrier. The implementation of the green hydrogen production strategy will enable the decarbonisation of many sectors of the Polish economy and the acquisition of a large part of the funds allocated to innovation. The special EU Hydrogen Strategy comes to the rescue.
The railways have also seen an opportunity to reduce the emission of CO2 . The first hydrogen-powered trains are already carrying passengers – for example in Germany. Polish companies also have something to be proud of. In June, the Chairman of the Office of Rail Transport gave permission to put into operation a hydrogen locomotive manufactured by the Pesa factory. The procedure of homologation of a hydrogen rail vehicle took place for the first time in the history of the Polish railway industry.
Work on the implementation of the new type of drive at the Bydgoszcz plant began in 2019. The SM42-6Dn shunting locomotive will ultimately be used in ports, sidings, and even in local traffic on the railway network. It is additionally equipped with an autonomous driving system and can reach speeds of up to 90 km/h. A Full tank allows for manoeuvring for 24 hours. Pesa wants to follow suit and plans to present a prototype of a hydrogen passenger train at the turn of 2026/27 ( Alstom the French company can already boast having such a vehicle).
RES in the Polish energy sector
New solutions in the energy sector should be linked to a broader process. Moving away from coal in the case of Polish seems inevitable, and the boom for RES is already a fact (especially in photovoltaics). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing turmoil in the commodity market have only accelerated the action of EU countries. In fact, 2023 is expected to be a record-breaking year worldwide in the case of acquiring new RES capacity (up to 30 percent, which will translate into 440 GW).
Poland is also in line with global trends. PAIH’s publication “The Green Technology Sector” calculates that at the end of April the installed capacity of renewable energy sources in Poland reached the level of over 24.4 GW (in 2015 it was about 7 GW). This is already about 39 per cent of the energy mix. 13.4 GW of installed capacity is in solar power plants (up 37.4 per cent compared to the previous year) and 8.6 GW in wind farms (up 17.5 per cent).
Estimates indicate that in 2030 RES may account for half of the Polish energy sector (the launch of wind farms in the Baltic Sea and the modernisation of the power grid, which will accelerate the connection of new photovoltaic farms, will be helpful). The next decade may increase the amount of installed capacity for RES and nuclear power up to 74 per cent. The development of green technologies is supported by special programs, such as PFR Green Hub or GreenEvo.
The energy revolution and changing global supply chains are also conducive to Polish companies. Already at this stage, the development of the RES market can be associated with something more than a further increase in capacity. On the horizon is the construction of a comprehensive base for the green revolution, so that it can be possible to produce, for example, photovoltaic cells or ready-made modules in factories in Poland.
It is worth remembering that the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) supports the process of establishing business relations by Polish entrepreneurs and their expansion abroad.
The above material was published in the August issue of the LOT Polish Airlines in-flight magazine Kaleidoscope.