For the sixth year in a row, the small Polish town of Serock becomes the heart of the country’s wind energy for three days. It is here that the annual Conference of the Polish Wind Energy Association – PWEA 2023 – takes place from June 20 to 22, 2023. This three-day event brings together key decision-makers, opinion leaders, representatives of local authorities, business and environmental associations, the media, and the entire wind energy industry in one place.
The development of renewable energy sources is becoming more important than ever for Poland. According to the Polish Energy Networks, the potential of RES indicates the possibility of producing more than 100 TWh per year of renewable energy by 2030, which will significantly exceed 50% of Poland’s electricity demand.
An important part of the event was the Ukrainian-Polish roundtable “Restoration of Ukraine and Energy Transition in Poland”. Representatives of the leading Ukrainian wind energy companies and international financial institutions discussed the role of RES, primarily wind, in the restoration of Ukraine and its energy sector.
The recovery of Ukraine’s energy sector should be based on renewable energy sources. At the same time, it should be clear that private wind and photovoltaic projects will be the driver of decentralized, green generation in the postwar period.
Grzegorz Zielinski, EBRD Director, Head of Energy Europe, indicated the EBRD’s continuing support for Ukraine and stressed the need to develop renewable energy sources on market conditions.
IFC’s interest and plans to support private renewable energy projects in Ukraine were also stated by Fuphan Chou, Manager, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Europe & South Caucasus.
Ukraine has a huge potential for onshore and offshore wind energy. At the same time, until the beginning of this century, Ukraine had a post-Soviet centralized energy system built on fossil fuels, mainly imported nuclear fuel, natural gas and domestic coal. The war proved the vulnerability of such a system, as russian terrorists consider it a major target for destruction. However, the operating wind farms, in contrast to the thermal power plants, have shown their resilience and despite the constant shelling, they continued to generate electricity.
Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the Board of the UWEA: “As part of the post-war energy recovery, wind power and other renewable energy generation technologies will play a leading role in the newly rebuilt Ukraine’s decentralized energy system relies on distributed generation. Ukrainian business sector is interested in this development, but without Western partnership and investment, it is virtually impossible to accomplish. Participation in PWEA 2023 opens up good opportunities to find such partners and accelerate the development of wind energy in Ukraine.”
