Breezing along?

Poland lags behind its European counterparts in wind energy production. Renewable energy growth appears on target for the EU as a whole, but what about Poland?

Top speakers from the European wind energy sector set out optimistic visions for the future of the continent in Warsaw last week at the EWEC 2010 wind energy conference.

According to European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) president Arthouros Zervos, Europe could meet 100 percent of its energy needs with renewables by 2050, with wind energy comprising 50 percent.

“Getting to 100 percent by 2050 is certainly possible,” he said, stressing that this is not a prediction, but a pathway that could be taken. “The technologies are there.” According to the most recent data from Eurostat, renewable energy sources comprised 9.9 percent of Europe’s energy mix in 2007, up from 8.6 percent in 2005. Christian Kjaer, EWEA’s chief executive, said that maintaining even this modest growth rate would see renewables providing for around 18.35 percent of Europe’s energy needs in 2020, not far off the 20 percent target.
The wind energy industry is also developing much faster than, for example, nuclear energy. According to EWEA data, the global wind capacity installed in 2009 was 37.5 GW, compared to 28 GW of total nuclear capacity installed around the world from 2000-2009.

Steve Sawyer, head of the Global Wind Energy Council, expressed his certainty that Europe can reach the 50 percent goal by 2050. “This is a conservative estimate, because we can see it from here – we [already] have the technology,” he said, stressing that the estimates do not take into account new technologies that are bound to be developed by then.

But Klaus Rave, vice president of EWEA, was more cautious. “We have to identify the show-stoppers,” he said, describing things which must be overcome in order to achieve the goal.

The most significant concern mentioned by the delegates was the state of the power grid, which needs to become pan-European if renewable energy sources are to proliferate and the energy they produce is to be managed intelligently.

Important technological choices also need to be made. According to Mr Sawyer, if Europe wants to make energy production as carbon emission free as possible by 2050, then carbon capture and storage should be taken off the table, as it does not entirely eliminate CO2.

And are the prospects for renewables in Poland as optimistic as elsewhere? Jarosław Mroczek, president of the Polish Wind Energy Association, is skeptical.

“I’m sure Europe is on the right track, but with Poland I’m not so sure,” he said. He was not convinced that Poland can fulfill its 2020 target due to the lack of political will to change energy law. But Mr Mroczek maintains hope that that the threat of significant fines for non-compliance may force Polish decision-makers into action.

Martyna Olik