The end of January 2022 saw wind energy breaking records in Poland with wind turbines contributing as much as 6 700 MW at peak output times. This resulted in wind energy contributing up to 35% of electricity demand in Poland.
The Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA) said that translating this into households, “it can be said that all homes in Poland were green-powered. This is exceptionally good news to us all, wind energy is the best remedy for skyrocketing electricity prices. Electricity from wind is the least expensive and may actually, decrease our electricity bills.”
The PWEA said that the country saw consistent growth in the production of electricity from wind farms.
The record-breaking weekend recorded wind farms producing a total of 238.2 GWh of electricity, equal to almost 35% of daily net electricity production in the country.
“In January 2022 wind energy set a series of records in the production of electricity in Poland. Good weather conditions resulted in a record-breaking January in terms of wind energy production, more than 2.5 TWh is a historic result.
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“The figures demonstrate that, on average, wind farms operated with a capacity of almost 3 500 MW, a 50% capacity factor,” said the PWEA
Today, the price of electricity produced from renewable energy installations such as wind farms is more than three times lower than in the case of conventional power plants using coal or gas. Renewables are the best remedy for high electricity bills.
“When the last record was set, onshore wind satisfied one-third of the national electricity demand, which demonstrates their increasing role in Poland’s energy mix. Unfortunately, the renewable energy sector does not exploit its potential.
“No new wind farm may be built without changes to the law,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.
The first half of 2020 saw Europe generate more electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. Electricity is also proving to be cheaper in countries that have more renewable energy sources than fossil fuels.
Forbes reported in July 2020 that from January to June, wind, solar, hydro and bioenergy generated 40% of the electricity across the EU’s 27 member states, while fossil fuels generated 34%. In the United States, by way of contrast, fossil fuels generated more than 62% of electricity last year, while renewables accounted for less than 18%.