PGE Energia Ciepła (PGE Heat Energy, a member of PGE Group), has begun the process of moving away from coal and towards a low-carbon fuel, i.e., gas, at the CHP plant in Gdynia. In the place of the oldest production building of the CHP plant, where mazut boilers from the 1970s operated, a modern Reserve and Peak Boiler Room No. 2 is being built with three water-oil and gas boilers, each with a capacity of 30 MW. On 22 February 2023, the foundation act for the new boiler house was laid and the Environmental Declaration was signed.
“Today we are embarking on one of the most important low-carbon investments in Pomerania. This is another step in the modernisation of the Polish heating sector. It is also a manifestation of the consistent implementation of PGE’s Strategy, which assumes the Group’s climate neutrality by 2050. Transformation of generation sources in the CHP plant in Gdynia will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 40 per cent, which is the equivalent of stopping road transport in Gdynia for 20 days a year. Ultimately, this investment will not only provide this heat to consumers but will also reduce the environmental impact of our activities and positively influence the improvement of air in the region,”
says Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of PGE.
The new Reserve and Peak Boiler Plant No. 2 will replace the largest coal-fired district heating boiler, which has operated for about 100,000 hours since the late 1970s. The permanent decommissioning will bring tangible environmental effects: sulphur oxides emissions will decrease by more than 40 times, nitrogen oxides by 10 times and dust by 20 times. Coal fuel consumption will be reduced by 20,000 tonnes per year, as a result of which 330 wagons of coal will no longer enter Gdynia. The target for this investment is gas fuel at the Gdynia Combined Heat and Power Plant in 2026. The value of the investment is more than PLN 100 million.
“PGE Energia Ciepła is the largest producer of heat in Poland. Our priority is to carry out investments that will bring the PGE Group closer to achieving zero emissions by 2050. And this is already happening. The construction of new generation sources and the decommissioning of the oldest coal-fired CHP boiler in Gdynia begins decarbonisation at this CHP plant, but we are also carrying out such investments in other cities, including Rzeszów, Bydgoszcz, Kielce, Lublin and Gorzów Wielkopolski,”
said Przemysław Kołodziejak, President of the Management Board of PGE Energia Ciepła.
Employees of CHP Gdynia and the Management and Board of PGE Energia Ciepła signed an Environmental Declaration – a commitment to local governments and the local community that by investing in the construction of new generation sources they are commencing the implementation of the Decarbonisation Plan for CHP Gdynia.
“The previous generation of heating engineers shaped today’s generation assets in Gdynia in the 1970s and 1990s and during this time, by modernising and investing in the equipment in operation, we benefited as residents and as a region. Today, we are already implementing new challenges, for the next generations of residents of Gdynia and the surrounding area,”
said Elżbieta Kowalewska, director of the Wybrzeże Branch of PGE Energia Ciepła in Gdańsk.
“Thanks to the use of a fuel mix in the 2030 perspective: biomass, gas, light oil and coal, as well as diversification of fuel supply directions, we will ensure energy, ecological and economic security for our residents,” she added.
At the same time, a new 27 MW steam boiler is being installed at the Gdynia Combined Heat and Power Plant in the Reserve and Peak Boiler Room No. 1. It will be a reserve source of steam for external customers and the CHP plant’s own needs. It will also be a peak source in the event of high demand for heat supplied to the inhabitants of Gdynia, Rumia, Reda and Kosakowo. The fuel for the new boiler will be light oil. The value of this investment is approximately PLN 20 million.
The Decarbonisation Plan at the Gdynia CHP Plant assumes that by 2030, 70 per cent of the heat produced will come from non-carbon fuels, and by 2050 the Gdynia CHP Plant will become zero-emission.
PGE Energia Ciepła Wybrzeże Branch operates two CHP plants: in Gdańsk and Gdynia, which are the only producers of heat in high-efficiency cogeneration in these cities, and also the largest producers of heat and electricity in Pomerania. With an annual production of 13,190 TJ of heat and 1,413 GWh of electricity, it meets more than half of the heating needs in Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot, Rumia, Reda and the Kosakowo Municipality. PGE Energia Ciepła, of the PGE Group, is Poland's largest producer of electricity and heat generated in high-efficiency cogeneration. It has an approx. 25 per cent share of the cogeneration heat market, 16 combined heat and power plants (with a thermal capacity of 6.9 GWt and an electrical capacity of 2.6 GWe) and district heating networks with a length of 700 km. PGE Energia Ciepła produces and supplies heat to large Polish cities, among which are: Kraków, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Wrocław, Rzeszów, Lublin, Bydgoszcz, Kielce and Szczecin. The company is also present in Toruń, Zielona Góra, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Zgierz, Siechnice and Gryfino, where it is also a distributor of heat to consumers.
