Preliminary assessment of the wind conditions as a potential for using wind micro-installation to improve air quality in Poland

AGH – University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059, Kraków, Poland

^* Corresponding author: aszulc@agh.edu.pl

Abstract

Poland has been struggling with the problem of exceedance of the permissible levels of air pollutions such as particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) for several years. In the years 2007-2015 the concentrations of PM10 and BaP exceeded the European Union (EU) limit values. The vast majority of the country is characterised by wind energy zones described as very favorable and favorable. Facing the current legal regulations, wind micro-installations are becoming an opportunity to use the potential of wind energy in Poland. The micro-installations market in Poland is constantly growing. In 2017 there was recorded a nearly ten-fold increase in the number of micro-installations of renewable energy sources connected to the network in regard of 2015. The analysis based on available wind energy resources and available technologies of small wind turbines on the market showed that by installing a 10 kW turbine in the zone with the most favorable wind conditions (1000 kWh/m²/year) one can avoid 93kg of dust emissions to the air and 140 kg of CO and 6222 kg of CO₂. The calculated reduction of dust emissions for 3 kW wind turbine in area of Rabka-Zdrój is about 0.8 kg, in the case of BaP 0.0003 kg, and for CO₂ 47.3 kg.