Caring for air quality
District heating is one of the most effective ways of reducing low emissions – the main cause of smog, which, especially in the autumn/winter season, is a problem for many Polish cities. Studies show that, depending on the location, one of the main sources of smog is individual heating of buildings with low-quality fuels.
In the case of PGE’s CHP plants, energy for central heating is generated, instead of small individual furnaces, in highly efficient CHP plants equipped with efficient denitrification, desulphurisation and dust filtration systems. In addition, electricity is produced in the co-generation process, making the energy contained in the fuel more efficiently converted and utilised.
PGE – the largest producer and supplier of district heat
The PGE Group nurtures partnerships with local governments and local distributors to develop solutions that benefit customers.
The PGE Group’s district heating strategy provides for the following:
>100,000
individual heating sources replaced by 2030
Investment decisions for natural gas
by 2025 at the latest;
in subsequent years, commercialisation of zero-carbon fuels (e.g. green hydrogen) or electrification of district heating will be necessary
>70%
share of zero- and low-carbon sources in heat generation by 2030
New thermal
waste treatment facilities.
In 2023, PGE Energia Ciepła connected buildings with a demand of 210 MWt to district heating networks in local heat markets.
It is as if an entire city the size of Zielona Góra was connected to a district heating network in one year.
In the markets where PGE Energia Ciepła is only a heat producer, buildings with a demand of 188 MWt were connected, while where it operates as an integrated entity and is also a heat distributor, buildings with a demand of 22 MWt were connected to district heating networks. 62 percent of connections were made in the three major cities of Cracow, Wrocław and Gdańsk. To its district heating networks, PGE Energia Ciepła also connected facilities from the primary market, i.e. newly built facilities with a heat demand of 133 MWt. In the case of the secondary market, i.e. buildings that switched their heat supply to a district heating network, the company connected buildings with a heat demand of 76 MWt.
Modernisation of generation assets
Consistent investments in the PGE Group’s generation assets mean that their environmental impact is reduced. Using the best available technologies, the PGE Group aims to further improve its environmental indicators. Between 1989 and 2023, the PGE Group’s power plants reduced their emissions as follows: SO2 by 95 percent, by 66 percent, particulate by 99 percent.
A graph showing the reduction in SO2, NOx and particulate emissions from 1989 to the present.
Depending on the location, the modernisation programmes cover different scopes of adaptation works. In the recent years, a considerable group of modernisation and restoration investments have comprised tasks aimed at adapting power generation units to the requirements of the Conclusions. Most of these have been completed. In the case of PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna, adaptation to the Conclusions took place at the Bełchatów, Opole, Dolna Odra, Rybnik and Turów Power Plants. Within the aforementioned scope, in 2023, works were still in progress at the Bełchatów and Turów Power Plants. At the Bełchatów Power Plant, the final scope of works aimed at adapting nitrogen oxide emissions to the requirements of the Conclusions was completed in Q3 2023.
In the case of PGE Energia Ciepła, more than a dozen tasks were carried out in the
Wybrzeże, Kraków and Wrocław CHP Plants. All adaptation works were completed in
2023.
The measures taken were primarily aimed at bringing PGE’s generation assets into compliance with environmental limits (e.g. improving effluent emission parameters, reducing dust,SO2, , Hg and other emissions). The works aimed at ensuring compliance with the Conclusions also contributed to improvements in other parameters, including generation efficiency and increased controllability, which had a significant impact on reducing failure rates.
Another example of an investment that contributes to a reduction in emissions while improving generation parameters is the modernisation of the gas turbine at the Zielona Góra CHP Plant. This investment project was completed in November 2022. The conducted modernisation reduced the unit’s emissions (including ), increased the efficiency of power generation and improved the regulatory parameters of the entire unit.
Environmental objectives for emissions at PGE Energetyka Kolejowa
In 2022/2023, PGE Energetyka Kolejowa conducted an analysis of its processes causing emissions to the atmosphere. The analysis confirmed the existence of the following processes causing emissions:
- thermal combustion of hard coal, light fuel oil and natural gas,
- electric and gas welding,
- reloading of fuels into tanks, refuelling of vehicles at service stations,
- combustion of fuels in vehicles, machinery and equipment,
- use of chemical products,
- emissions of F-gases, including SF6 due to failure of air-conditioning installations and electrical equipment
and identified processes not previously included in comparable analyses:
- construction works and associated particulate generation,
- processes involving the use of LPG,
- mechanical surface treatment,
- storage of diesel and light fuel oil,
- refuelling equipment from canisters,
- tyre wear on road vehicles,
- abrasion of abrasive components in brakes for road and rail vehicles,
- collection of wastewater in septic tanks,
- fires.
As part of the analysis, the nomenclature used for emission processes was
standardised and emission factors were redefined.
The updated data were used to build the database structure in the new Ekostrateg application. The application enables the preparation of more detailed reports, which improves the management of the organisation’s processes generating emissions.