Hydropower: clean, cheap and stable

• The revival of hydroelectric power stations in Poland took place after 1989: with the change of the political system.
• We only use 15-20% of water potential, which means that 80 percent of rivers and inland waters are not used in this respect.
• Poland uses mainly hard coal and lignite, and at the current rate of transformation, climate neutrality will be achieved around 2130.

– The Russian attack on Ukraine has limited access to Russian fuels and made us aware of the importance of ensuring energy sources independent of the political situation. The crisis might even contribute to a stronger interest in hydropower – says Prof. Kasperek, a specialist in engineering and water management and hydrotechnical construction, co-author of the article 'The hydropower sector in Poland: Historical development and current status', which was published in the 'Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews' journal. The history of Polish hydroelectric power and its current state is also confirmed by other scientists associated with our university: Marian Mokwa and Arkadiusz Szkudlarek, as well as specialists from the University of Life Sciences in Poznań (Tomasz Kałuża, Mirosław Czechlowski, Wojciech Czekała, Jacek Dach, Mateusz Hämmerling, Mariusz Sojka, Paweł Zawadzki) and the Adam Mickiewicz University (Mariusz Ptak).

Revival and stagnation

Just compare these two figures: there are only 760 small hydroelectric power plants in Poland today, while before the war there were over 8,000. They were built starting from the end of the 19th century, along with the interest in hydropower, the development of industry, and with the growing production of steel necessary for turbines and other elements of hydrotechnical structures. The first, historic power station in what is now Poland was established in 1894 at a mill on the Bóbr River in Nowogród Bobrzański. It was at the water mills, sawmills, fulleries and forges that the first small power stations were built, using water energy only to power their own machines.

Larger power plants were also gradually built, which transferred the produced energy outside the plants. They developed to different degrees, depending on the area: the best results were on lands under the German partition, the worst – under the Russian partition. Poland's regained independence meant the rebuilding of a devastated country and the need to create modern industry, for which electricity was essential. In 1923 in Gródek, Pomerania, which had been regained by Poland only a few years earlier, the first large hydroelectric power plant in free Poland was launched, supplying electricity to Świecie, Chełmno, Chełmża, Grudziądz, Toruń and Gdynia. Using the accumulation of the Wda River, it was built by the prominent hydrotechnician Alfons Hoffmann, often referred to as ‘the man who illuminated Pomerania’. Gródek quickly turned out to be insufficient, the construction of Gdynia required an increasing demand for energy to power the developing city and port; hence the decision to build another hydroelectric power plant in Żura, further along the river than Gródek. In 1930 President Ignacy Moscicki solemnly opened what was then the largest and most innovative hydroelectric power station in Poland, with a capacity of 9 MW (double that of its predecessor). Both the Gródek and Żur hydroelectric power stations are still in operation today, using original 100-year-old equipment, admired by fans of technical heritage.

THE ENERGY PRODUCED BY HYDROPOWER TURBINES IS LESS THAN 2 PERCENT OF THE ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION IN POLAND. THIS PUTS US IN A DISTANT 18th PLACE IN EUROPE.

Smaller hydropower plants, which developed intensively in the free market economy in the interwar period, have been forgotten. Some were destroyed during the Second World War, others began to fall into ruin after the change of the political system and nationalisation of the economy in the People's Republic of Poland. In the 1950s there were still about 6.5 thousand water power plants, although that number decreased each year.

Their revival came after 1989: with the change of the political system, the political and economic transformation and the development of a free economy, small power plants started to become more and more popular. In the 1990s they developed intensively, with the support of the state, and Poland's accession to the European Union further strengthened this positive trend. Re-stagnation occurred after 2015; the development of large hydroelectric power plants was halted, among others for environmental and economic reasons.

The Vistula is not the Amazon river

Hydropower in Poland is based on run-of-river, control (reservoir) and pumped storage power plants (with two reservoirs). We have 18 hydroelectric plants with a capacity greater than 5 MW; the others are small hydroelectric plants. Energy is produced by 774 run-of-river hydroelectric plants, the largest of which is the facility in Włocławek on the Vistula River; their combined capacity is 937 MW. The most power is provided by pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants (1433 MW).

In total, the energy produced by hydropower turbines accounts for less than 2 percent of electricity produced in Poland. This puts us in a distant 18th place in Europe.

We only use 15-20% of water potential, which means that 80 percent of rivers and inland waters are not used in this respect. And increasing the share of hydropower by even a few percent would improve the country's energy security – says Prof. Kasperek.

WE ONLY USE 15-20 PERCENT OF OUR WATER POTENTIAL, WHICH MEANS THAT 80 PERCENT OF RIVERS AND INLAND WATERS ARE NOT USED IN THIS RESPECT. AND INCREASING THE SHARE OF HYDROPOWER BY EVEN A FEW PERCENT WOULD IMPROVE THE COUNTRY'S ENERGY SECURITY

Investors are not interested in hydropower, because the environmental, legal and financial obstacles are piling up like water.

– The most discouraging are the legal and environmental barriers – says the co-author of the article Arkadiusz Szkudlarek, a doctoral student at the UPWr Doctoral School. He divides his time between academic and professional work: he runs a company called Inex Green, in which he employs students and graduates of the UPWr. He is one of just 159 people in Poland to boast building qualifications in the field of hydrotechnical engineering. He stands out among the authors of the text with his practical experience: he designs and builds small hydroelectric power plants. – There are 157 legal acts alone that regulate the construction process in Poland; some of them are several hundred pages long. The legislative process is so long and complicated that it scares people off at the beginning – says the doctoral student. To start off with you need to choose a suitable place, assess its energy potential, develop a technical concept, and assess the impact on the environment. – The environmental permission is the most important, the most costly and the most time-consuming; it can take up to two years to obtain – he calculates. Then there is the water permit for damming and drawing water, the application for leasing the land on which the power station is to be built, the application for connection to the grid, the planning permission... Sometimes the whole procedure lasts up to 8 years.

– And you cannot forget about public consultations, and people generally do not want hydroelectric power plants in their neighbourhood, because there is still a belief that reservoirs pose a risk of flooding for adjacent areas and damaging the ecosystem – says Prof. Kasperek.

A well-designed power plant will bring a return on investment after 12 years at the earliest under the current system of support. – And this requires reasonable prices for the sale of generated energy, within the renewable energy support system in the form of guaranteed prices – adds the professor.

According to the experts, the law should be changed to be more stable and encouraging, knowledge about hydropower should be popularised, and sustainability should be promoted as much as possible. - I would not want my children to see salmon only on TV in the future. It is essential to clear watercourses for the migration of all aquatic organisms, especially diadromous fish. Meanwhile, some investors treat it as if it were a necessary evil – admits Arkadiusz Szkudlarek. - And yet it is possible to reconcile both the demands of environmentalists and the development of hydropower. To what extent a power plant affects the environment depends on how it was built. There are fish ladders with fish guidance systems, special lifts, slow-moving turbines through which fish can pass without being harmed. We also design riffles with a gentler gradient, along which fish migrate freely.

A WELL-DESIGNED POWER PLANT WILL BRING A RETURN ON INVESTMENT AFTER 12 YEARS AT THE EARLIEST UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF SUPPORT.

Opponents of the development of hydropower argue that Poland is not Brazil, China or Norway, and the Vistula is not the Amazon river, and we do not have the right conditions for hydroelectric power plants to be an important source of energy. We are a lowland country, with rivers that have only a slight gradient.

– Indeed, compared to other countries, our water resources are scarce, but this does not rule out the possibility of hydropower. It is enough to manage the water properly by building small reservoirs and damming up water in rivers and canals – explains Professor Kasperek. The best conditions for hydropower are in Masuria, Pomerania, the Sudetes and the Carpathians. The Vistula river has largest share (45.3 percent) of hydropower resources, then the Vistula-Oder basin (43.6 percent), the Oder river (9.8 percent) and Pomeranian rivers (1.8 percent).

Black, brown, green

The European Union has committed to achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions and climate neutrality by 2050. The European Green Deal aims to reduce pollution levels by, among others, decarbonising the energy sector. – According to the International Energy Agency, in 2025 more energy will be produced from renewable energy sources (RES) than from coal. One third of the world's electricity production is projected to come from RES, including more than half from hydropower – says Prof. Kasperek. – Unfortunately, in Poland the development of renewable energy sources does not seem to be strategic for decision-makers. We continue to use mainly coal and lignite, and at the current pace of transformation we may just manage to reach climate neutrality in 2130.

In Poland the largest sources of green energy are the sun and wind: 47 percent of all RES capacities are photovoltaics, followed by wind power plants (41 percent); hydroelectric power plants account for only 6 percent. The last two years have seen a photovoltaic boom in Poland. In January this year, 36,600 photovoltaic installations were built and just two power stations.

– This is a paradox, because the advantage of hydropower is, among others, its stability. Other renewable energy sources are not as reliable, as windmills and photovoltaic panels do not work when there is no wind and sun – says the professor.

There are more benefits of hydropower: unlike power from coal, it helps inhibit environmental degradation by retaining water and improving small-scale retention, which also protects against flooding. It helps use less fossil fuel and produces cheaper energy. Reservoirs often also have a recreational function, a good example being the Turawa reservoir on the Mała Panew River, which is a popular recreational area, contributing to the development of tourism in the region.

HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS HAVE A LONG LIFESPAN, ARE RELIABLE AND EASY TO OPERATE, USE NATIONAL WATER RESOURCES AND ENSURE ENERGY SECURITY REGARDLESS OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION

– Producing 1 GWh in a hydropower plant saves 800 tonnes of coal, 15 tonnes of sulphur oxides, 1,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 5 tonnes of nitrogen oxide and 160 tonnes of slag and ash – calculates the professor. – Hydropower plants have a long lifespan, are reliable and easy to operate, use domestic water resources and provide energy security regardless of the political situation.

It would be a good idea to utilise already existing, but unused facilities: in Poland there are several thousand unused machines, some of which date back to the inter-war period. – They have great potential, but are simply wasting away – Arkadiusz Szkudlarek believes.

– We can still get a lot of clean and renewable energy from water. I believe that Poland's membership in the European Union and the resulting climate commitments will force the country to become more involved in the development of hydroelectric power – adds Prof. Robert Kasperek.