Scholarly record

THE IMPACT OF THE ADAPTATION OF CONVENTIONAL ENERGY TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NEW EU EMISSION STANDARDS FOR ENERGY COSTS AND THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN POLAND

Dorota Palka, Jaroslaw Brodny

Abstract

The production of electricity and heat is inextricably linked to the emission of gases, dust and other substances harmful to the environment. The size of this issue depends on many factors. The most important ones are: the type of fuel used in the production of energy, the type and age of generating installations, the technology used and the type and effectiveness of purification systems. The basic problem of power industry is the need to generate the right amount of energy needed for economic development, while at the same time limiting the negative impact of this energy on the environment. This problem affects most countries in the world, especially those where energy is generated from conventional sources like coal, oil and gas. This group also includes Poland, where currently about 85% of energy is produced from conventional sources. Because of such an energy structure large amounts of harmful substances enter the environment. In order to significantly reduce these emissions, the European Union has introduced stringent regulations for large combustion plants, such as power plants and CHPs. They are included in the IPPC Directive in the new Best Available Technology (BAT) conclusions. This paper presents the results of the analysis of the energy market in Poland in the context of the introduction of these provisions by the European Union. According to this act, untill 17 August 2021 all large power plants and CHPs need to adapt their installations to very stringent standards for the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. These regulations concern low carbon dioxide emissions, as well as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust emissions. These regulations also cover the acceptable emission levels of additional substances such as Hg (Mercury), HCl (Hydrogen chloride), HF (Hydrogen Fluorine) and NH3 (Ammonia). Achieving these goals entails the necessity to incur by the power industry very high costs of adapting the installation to these requirements. It will be necessary to carry out a thorough modernization of most energy companies, which entails huge investment expenditures. The aim of these activities will be to put into practice the best solutions to achieve low industrial pollution emissions. The changes introduced will have a significant impact on energy prices and economic indicators. It is therefore very important to address this topic in order to determine its scale and possible effects. The issue covered in the article aims to discuss the proposed changes and to analyze its possible effects, taking into account ecological and economic aspects.

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