Heating plants could absorb surplus renewable energy – less green energy wasted

According to the PSEW (Polish Wind Energy Association) report, Poland loses around 1.4 TWh of energy produced from renewable sources every year. The reason is the lack of any means of making effective use of it during periods of overproduction. The solution indicated by the report is a closer integration of the power sector with district heating.

How it works

Heating plants could take up surplus electricity from renewable energy sources (OZE) and convert it into heat, which would then be stored in district heating networks. As a result, energy that is lost today could reach consumers in the form of heat instead of being wasted.

• Around 1.4 TWh of energy from renewable sources is wasted every year
• Combining the power sector with district heating can reduce these losses
• Heating plants can convert surplus electricity into heat

This solution is part of a broader trend towards sector coupling in energy, which makes it possible to make better use of the potential of renewable energy sources and to increase the stability of the power system.

Significance for the energy system

Reducing losses of energy from renewable sources benefits both renewable energy producers and heat consumers, who can gain from a more efficient use of green energy.

For NRG+, the topics of sector integration and better use of energy from renewable sources are important in the context of the role that energy storage can play in balancing surplus output from photovoltaic farms.