Impact of Expected Deregulation and Privatisation of Polish Electric Power Sector on Its Characteristics

摘要

Over 90% of electric power is produced in Poland in coal fired steam power stations. This fact involves several disadvantages: low energy conversion efficiency, high environmental pollution, low flexibility of electric power system operation, insufficient reliability of electric power system in some critical circumstances (strikes, severe winter), over employment in power stations. Almost the whole Polish electric power sector (generation, transmission, distribution) is still state owned. Its infrastructure is over engineered and rundown needing capital for restructuring. Most of public power utilities are localised in Southwestern and Central Poland which needs an electric power transmission to the rest of the national territory. Over 10% of the total electric power generation comes from industrial power utilities, another 10% - from heat and power utilities. A partial privatisation is a real fact in most of Polish as well industrial power as heat and power utilities. Therefore actual owners are interested in offering the least possible cost for providing power, in providing highly reliable power, and in producing power as environmentally benign as possible. Unfortunately a monopoly in power transmission and distribution is still an important obstacle in this process. Therefore there are still requirements for a liberalised electric power market on one hand, and for mandatory third party access, on the other hand. A resulting restructuring of power plants should provoke lower cost of electricity. For such a purpose as well privatisation as deregulation of Polish electric power sector is expected. Both would enable an important modification needed for the Polish electric power system. Any restructuring of over engineered and rundown infrastructure needs capital. Because of the size of any industrial utilities as well as of heat and power utilities the needed for restructuring capital investment is not so high as in any public power utilities. Therefore a power plant restructuring has been started in several as well industrial power as heat an power utilities. Such a restructuring includes sometimes applying combined cycle generation. An influence of an eventual restructuring of privatised industrial power sector as well as heat and power public sector, in the frame of liberalised electricity market, on characteristics of Polish electric power sector has been discussed.