Biodiversity

As part of a biodiversity study at the Turów Power Plant, tests were carried out on the mercury content of ichthyofauna (fish) – at measuring stations in the waters of the Miedzianka and Lusatian Neisse Rivers. Water quality monitoring is carried out cyclically in the Miedzianka River at three measuring stations. Testing of physical and chemical parameters is carried out by the in-house laboratory every fortnight, while water quality is tested once every two months by an accredited laboratory.

The plant world is represented by more than a hundred species of woody and herbaceous plants. Some of them were introduced during the land rehabilitation works, but most found their way here through natural succession, finding favourable living conditions. The resulting ecosystem is a continuously evolving environment, undergoing constant change and transformation. With the passage of time, the biodiversity of the former dump will be increasing. The pioneer plants introduced during the land rehabilitation works are already paving the way for other, more demanding species through their impact on the surrounding environment. This can be evidenced, among other things, by the observed phenomenon of animals migrating from adjacent areas untransformed by mining operations and settling in the rehabilitated areas.

The primary task of the land rehabilitation operations carried out at the Turów Mine is to shape the biotope. The successively increasing area of woodland has mainly soil-forming and soil-protective functions, which is particularly important in the case of soilless and erosion-prone terrain.

In the vicinity of the opencast mine and the former external dump there are three natural monuments:

A fossil trunk of the conifer Taxodixylon gypsaceum

A small-leaved lime tree

A durmast oak

Since 2013, monitoring of non-forest habitats and protected plant species as well as forest habitats has been carried out in the vicinity of the mine.

The Bełchatów Power Plant Branch is not located in any protected areas.

On the northern side of the site of the Rybnik Power Plant and around the “Rybnik” reservoir, there are natural protected areas in the form of the Cistercian Rudy Wielkie Landscape Compositions Park.

Pursuant to regulation no. 181/93 of the Katowickie Province Governor of 23 November 1993 (Official Journal of the Katowickie Province no. 15*, item 130), highly urbanised areas were excluded from the Cistercian Rudy Wielkie Landscape Compositions Park, including the Rybnik Power Plant together with the reservoir of water used for technological purposes, the so-called “Rybnik Reservoir”.

In the immediate vicinity of the Dolna Odra Power Plant there are two, partially intersecting Natura 2000 protected areas. These are:

• the Oder Valley special habitat protection area (Habitats Directive) (approx. 0.8 km),
• the Lower Oder Valley special bird protection area (Birds Directive) (approx. 0.3 km),
• the Lower Oder Valley Landscape Park (approx. 1.3 km).

The Opole Power Plant Branch is an industrial complex located within the city of Opole, in its north-western part, in the industrial section of the Brzezie quarter. It covers an area of approximately 240 hectares (the power plant together with the wastewater treatment plant and ancillary facilities). The power plant is located approximately 1 km from the Oder River, below the mouth of the Mała Panew River.

Within the radius of 12.5 km there are no protected areas of the following types:

• reserves,
• national parks,
• specific species protection zones for plants, animals and fungi,
• spa protection areas – this is the only type of area for which stricter air quality requirements are set. The nearest such area is approximately 200 km away, in the Świętokrzyskie Province.

The area closest to the power plant is the Odrzańskie Broadleaved Forests. It is located approximately 1 km from the limits of the power plant and approximately 500 m from the wastewater treatment plant.

The Szczecin CHP Plant is located approximately 1.3 km from two Natura 2000 sites:

• the “Lower Oder” special habitat protection Area,
• the “Lower Oder Valley” special bird protection area.

The exception is the furnace waste dump, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the aforementioned areas, next to the Oder River.

The village of Solina is located outside the area of landscape parks. There are no nature reserves within the limits of the village of Solina.

• Natural monuments – the Myczkowieckie Rocks,
• Nature reserves: the Koziniec and Myczkowieckie Lake reserves, and the San River Ravine near Grodzisko – in the vicinity of the villages of Solina and Myczkowce,
• Natura 2000 sites of European Community importance – only in the Leski District, there are no such areas in the vicinity of the use:
  • the Słonne Mountains
  • the Upper San River Basin
  • the Bieszczady Mountains
• Natura 2000 sites – special bird protection areas.

Two Natura 2000 special bird protection areas are established in the Leski District: the Bieszczady Mountains and the Słonne Mountains.

The Dychów Branch ensures that habitats and ecological corridors do not disappear. It cooperates with sections of the Angling Association and plans further cooperation in the restocking of the Bóbr River. It is actively involved in the development of conservation task plans for Natura 2000 sites. In 2022, these were studies for the areas of the Krosno Oder Valley and the Lower Bóbr Valley. Another fish ladder (in Stary Raduszec) was put into service. The Branch has recently initiated work on the following:

• a tender procedure for the design work for the construction of an oil spill detection and interception system,
• preparation of documentation for the construction of behavioural barriers at the Stary Raduszec Hydro Power Plant.

A fish ladder allowing fish migration is in operation at the Dębe Hydro Power Plant. The Smardzewice Hydro Power Plant contributes to the cost of restocking the Pilica River. In the case of the Zlewnia Odry Power Plant, only five out of twenty-five active facilities do not have a fish ladder. These are the plants located in Rakowice, Kliczków, Małomice, Żarki Wielkie and Gubin.

In 2023, PGE Energia Odnawialna continued to carry out wildlife monitoring for birds and bats at its Resko II, Kisielice II, Karwice, Lotnisko and Wojciechowo wind farms. The last year’s monitoring activities carried out at those wind farms constituted the last cycle of ornitho- and chiropterofauna wildlife observations. The conducted wildlife research projects provide data on the factual impact of the company’s activities on species richness. If positive effects are identified, wildlife monitoring observations allow measures to be taken with a view to strengthening such effects, while preventive measures will be taken if significant negative impacts occur. The wildlife monitoring of the wind farms conducted to date has not indicated the necessity to increase biodiversity protection.

In 2023, PGE Energia Odnawialna obtained 16 environmental decisions for investments involving the construction of photovoltaic farms with a total capacity of 910 MW. Two of these investments will be implemented within areas of nature conservation. They are the Wierzbie PV Farm (within the Chmielnicko-Szydlowski Protected Landscape Area) and the Sokoły Jeziorne PV Farm (within the Dybowskie Hills Protected Landscape Area). The screening procedures carried out did not reveal the possibility of any negative impact of the project on the environment and therefore an environmental impact assessment was waived. In the same year, the company obtained 19 planning permit decisions for photovoltaic farms with a total capacity of 522 MW.

PGE’s own environmental project is the “Forests Full of Energy” programme, which has been running for more than 24 years. Its aim is to raise the participants’ awareness of the role of forests for the environment and climate.

The programme fosters the right social and environmental attitudes among employees and their families, and promotes the establishment and nurturing of good neighbourly relations between the PGE Group and local communities. Planting trees on land owned by the State Forests also fulfils an educational function.  Participants get involved in forest planting workshops led by foresters. The State Forests are a partner of the programme.

In 2023, the participants of the campaign planted a total of more than 110,000 trees in 21 locations in 12 provinces. More than 2,900 volunteers joined the initiative, including PGE Group employees, their families and invited guests: children from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as young athletes. Besides planting trees, PGE volunteers also cleaned up the forests near Sulików and Radomierzyce in the vicinity of the Turów Complex, the green areas in the Głogów Forest District and the Emperor’s Road in the Biebrza River Valley. PGE employees, their families, school children, foresters and Biebrza National Park staff took part in the clean-up work.

Out of concern for storks, PGE Dystrybucja employees, in agreement with the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, carried out the project called “Protection of the white stork in the river valleys of eastern Poland”, the main aim of which was to reduce white stork mortality due to electrocution. In 2023, as part of the project, PGE Dystrybucja’s employees installed 987 stork nest structures and bird deterrent platforms to prevent birds from perching on working parts of the network and thus protect them from electrocution. Such works are performed from mid-October to the end of February, when storks are in Africa for the autumn-winter period. The months from March to October are the stork protection season.

Every year, PGE Dystrybucja employees also help ornithologists ring young storks. In 2023 alone, 894 chicks in 362 nests were ringed and nine storks were fitted with GPS devices to acquire their current locations and migration routes.

The peregrine falcon is one of the rarest bird species, which became practically extinct in Poland twenty years ago. Currently, there are about 80 pairs of falcons in Poland and they are under strict species protection. The PGE Group has been actively working for the restoration of the peregrine falcon population in Poland for 21 years.

PGE also supports the “Falcon” Association in information and education activities, encouraging local communities to take an interest in the life of wild birds. At the Gdynia CHP Plant, it is a tradition to invite pupils from the nearby primary school to a “live” nature lesson during which they have the opportunity to see the process of ringing young birds.

During the year-round transect surveys, 3,547 individuals were observed in the Baltica OWF area, while visual observations and radar surveys during the spring and autumn migrations indicated a total of 7,099 individuals. Based on the conducted research, solutions were developed to protect this species. Among the solutions was a reduction in the development area by moving the investment away from the Słupsk Shoal by 2-2.5 km. A flight (migration) corridor consistent with the main direction of bird migration with a minimum width of 5 km between the planned external power plants of the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 projects was also designated. The inflight zones from north-east and south-west directions were widened. The planned corridor will allow free access to the birds’ wintering area and ensure their shortest stay in close proximity to the power plant during their journey to the wintering area. It was also planned to use a minimum clearance of 20 m between the water surface and the tip of the blade, as the survey showed that the majority of long-tailed ducks flew at the height of 20 m.

PGE’s wind farms operate on the basis of environmental decisions and, where necessary during bird migration periods, there are periodic plant shutdowns. Therefore, damage caused to birds by PGE-owned wind turbines is rare. In order to reduce accidents involving these animals to zero and minimise the effects of its activities on wildlife, the PGE Group takes numerous measures.

Restocking campaigns are pro-environmental activities regularly undertaken by the PGE Group, above all by the divisions that operate pumped storage power plants. The initiative aims to develop biodiversity and restore endangered fish species living in reservoirs adjacent to PGE Group assets. In 2022, the first action covered Lake Raduszeckie and Lake Dychowskie, where populations of tench, carp and crucian carp were strengthened. More than half a tonne of two-year old fish was released into the water. The second initiative (150 kg of brook trout) was carried out in Lake Myczkowskie.

In 2023, the PGE Group and the State Water Management Enterprise Wody Polskie carried out another joint action of sowing flower meadows in the vicinity of the Porąbka-Żar Power Plant. On that occasion, the designated shores of Lake Czanieckie, the Porąbka reservoir and the Soła River cascade area were transformed into flower meadows. The initiative covered 3,000 m² of wasteland, which was sown with a mixture of different plant seeds. They ranged from from slow-growing, loosely tufted grasses to perennial and annual flowers. With the right choice of seeds, grass will not dominate flowers and the plant mix will flourish in the first year and in subsequent years.

In 2023, PGE continued to implement the “Energy of the Rhythm of Nature” programme, which had been launched in 2020 to increase the Group’s commitment to the protection of the natural environment.

As part of the “Energy of the Rhythm of Nature” programme, PGE also created a four-part series of educational and natural history films showing the variability of ecosystems in the natural cycle of the seasons, as well as the life of wild animals in inaccessible forest environments.

In 2023, PGE, as a strategic partner of the League for the Protection of Nature, participated in environmental, educational and ecological projects implemented by the LPN. Among the most important of these was the planting of trees in the Zwoleń Forest District in the territory of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Radom.

As part of the cooperation with the League for the Protection of Nature, the publication of educational boards on the successes of active protection, a children’s colouring book on energy conservation and efficiency, as well as a series of four nature webinars were carried out in 2023.

The event featured lectures and discussions, including on district heating networks and ecological technological solutions in combined heat and power plants, using the example of the Kraków CHP plant. Aspects of the garden city concept and the new European Bauhaus concept were also presented. The topic of pollinators in cities was extensively discussed by representatives of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. They focused on the evaluation of initiatives to support wild pollinators, bumblebees in cities and environmental education for children. The meeting participants identified many of the threats and challenges to the protection and improvement of the environment in urban centres.

In 2023, the Polish Postal Service introduced a stamp with an image of the Crooked Forest as part of a philatelic publication promoting the issue entitled “POLAND – SEE MORE”. This is the result of activities aimed at popularising this unique natural site, carried out by the PGE Foundation, PGE S.A., the Gryfino Commune and the Forest District. The Crooked Forest stamp features a special QR code with a link to a promotional and information film created by the Gryfino Commune. Stamps can be purchased individually or in a sheet together with a stamp depicting a Bieszczady landscape with the San river and a view of the Otryt mountain range in the Western Bieszczady.

The outcome of the project was an increase in the knowledge of migration, dispersal and mortality of the above species through the use of coloured rings and making them readable. Through the implementation of the measures, nearly 8,000 hectares of forest habitats became protected through the creation of dedicated zones (200 protection zones, an average of about 40 hectares per protection zone). The conclusions of the project were presented in the form of a report with the results of conducted inspections. It was submitted to the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Lublin, which establishes protection zones around the nesting grounds of the above-mentioned species.