During the Christmas period, the wind was blowing so hard that Polski Sieci Elektroenergetyczne decided to limit the production of wind farms. At Easter, the same situation occurred, which is proof of how much energy needs differ on different days of the year.
It may seem that increasing energy production is only a benefit to the economy. However, this is not the case, since the energy generated by wind farms is not suitable for storage and, if there is no demand for it, there is no need to produce it.
Energy is not always needed in the same amount
Due to low demand for capacity and electricity, the National Energy Dispatch Office recommended reducing wind generation across the country in the amount of 400 MW to 800 MW, at different times of the day on December 26 and 27, 2022.
During the Christmas period, two factors are often intertwined - low demand for electricity and electricity and high output from wind farms. This situation also happened this year, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE) explains.
“In order to maintain the regulatory capacity of the National Energy System, it was recommended to reduce generation in conventional units and make full use of the resources of pumped storage power plants, as well as inter-operator export of excess electricity. Despite the measures taken, excess electricity production still occurred. Therefore, an order was issued to reduce the generation of FW.
Wind farm production fell for the first time on Easter Monday
As of December 1, 2022, the total installed capacity of wind farms in Poland is about 9 GW. WF generation on holidays (December 25 and December 26) ranged from 0.3 to 5.9 GW depending on the hour, while the need for power on these days was: min. 11.8 GW - max. 16.7 GW.
This is not the first stop this year. On Easter Monday, when it was windy and sunny in parts of the country, PSE also cut wind farm production. There was so much electricity on the grid in relation to demand that it was not possible to compensate for the large production of renewable energy by reducing production in conventional power plants.
Coal blocks are less flexible and cannot be simply turned off or the burning of coal in them can be significantly reduced.
Source: Wprost
