The Pumped Storage Power Plants Company at Waterpower XIV

On July 18 - 22, in Austin, USA, the WATERPOWER XIV conference took place. This conference is held yearly and its purpose is to promote water power industry and hydro-technical projects. Among the participants of the conference were: the President of the Supervisory Board of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company, Mr Zygmunt Gzyra, the President of the Management Board of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company, Mr Jan Tokarz and the expert for capital projects of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company, Mr Wojciech Matuszek.

This was another WATERPOWER conference in which the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company actively participated in order to exchange ideas and solutions concerning the modern hydro-technical industry in this international forum. This year's Waterpower edition hosted the representatives of the production sector of the water power industry (water-flow power plants, pumped storage power plants), representative of the environmental protection services, as well as producers of the water plants' equipment. A number of speeches were presented at the conference. They referred to the recent hydro-technical projects and the possibilities of using the renewable resources to produce electric energy. The topics discussed included also the analyses on using the natural energy of the sea tides to produce electric energy, on the costs incurred by producers for exploiting the environment, as well as on the role and position of a regulating body in countries where water power industry is largely exploited. Also, a number of new solutions concerning the construction of water power industry facilities were shown, including the pumped storage power plants and, among others, a power plant with a derivation of about 5 kilometres located on the glacier in the Alps.

The Polish delegation also prepared its own report in the form of a presentation "Modernization of the Żarnowiec Water Power Plant" made by the President of the Management Board of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company, Mr Jan Tokarz. The Żarnowiec Water Power Plant is part of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company and at the same time it is the biggest water power plant in Poland, located on the Żarnowiec Lake. It is a pumped storage power plant, having the power of 716 MW, exploiting the Żarnowiec Lake as a lower depository, while the upper depository is an entirely artificial one, built on the nearby plateau. The Żarnowiec Water Power Plant is equipped with the largest water turbines the generated power output of which amounts to 4x180 MW. As a result of the modernisation works carried out by the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company, the efficiency of work of the pumping cycle and turbine cycle was largely increased (about 5 % and 3 % respectively). Also the isolation of the generator's stator windings was modernised. The Żarnowiec Water Power Plant is the pride of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company. The report presented by Mr Jan Tokarz on the successfully and effectively completed modernisation of a large Polish power plant met with significant interest of the conference's participants. The presence of the Polish representatives was strongly stressed and the report was considered as the best one in the category of the pumped storage power plants' modernisation.

The Waterpower XIV Conference offers above all the possibility to learn about the achievements of the modern technologies used worldwide and to transfer them to the Polish market. It is also a unique opportunity to gather information on the recent tendencies and technologies in the water power industry. The representatives of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company present at the conference had a chance to learn how to effectively solve problems they encounter in their everyday activity.

The conference also proved a great progress in the scope of knowledge, technologies and solutions in the area of trade and production, economy and environment of the modern water power industry. The speakers pointed at the main directions for the sector to follow. It was stated that, taking into account the existence of the green-house effect, it is necessary to increase the production of the energy using the renewable resources, including the water power industry. It was decided that the power plants in South America, Asia and Oceania have the greatest potential as for the exploitation of the water power plants. This industry plays an important role as one of the sources of electric power especially for the developing countries such as China or Turkey. These production capacities should be developed and exploited and all the new facilities built for the water power industry should be as harmless as possible for the natural environment. The water power industry using the water swelling or water depositories should participate in their maintenance to the degree in which it takes advantage of the water swelling. Another aspect stressed at the conference was the possibility to balance the interests of the power consumers and producers, enabling at the same time the realisation of investments for the producers. In countries where the water power industry is present, the efforts should be concentrated at improving the efficiency and the stress should be put on the modernisation and not only on the construction of new facilities. As for the old solutions: at present the technological progress places the production efficiency at the level between 90 and 95 % (in the case of production efficiency in the generation in the water flow power plants), and in pumped storage power plants the efficiency reaches 80%. In this area, Poland's level is comparable. The world's industry is working on water turbines having the power of 1500 MW, and the power of the largest turbines operating now reaches 700 MW. They are planned to be installed on the rivers with a high pitch and a big flow.

Some of the technologies presented at the conference will not be used in the Polish water power industry due to the lack of appropriate conditions. However, considering the significant recommendation of this year's edition of the Waterpower conference, we should focus on the development of electric power production from the renewable sources, including water power industry and we should also minimise the impact of the water power facilities on the natural environment.

The presence of the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company at the conference proves that we are a company the modern thinking of which is expressed mainly in the way we approach the natural environment matters. Within all the years of its presence on the Polish water power market, the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company takes an active part in investments in the new renewable energy sources, in developing and modernizing its facilities and in promoting pro-ecological education. In July this year, during the Waterpower XIV conference, the Pumped Storage Power Plants Company had an opportunity to present its activity and recent significant achievements in the international forum.