ENEA Group’s environmental activities in 2021

signed an agreement with PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. under which both companies will jointly apply for location permits for the construction of offshore wind farms in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea. ENEA S.A. has also changed its headquarters to a LEED Platinum-certified building with implemented solutions that reduce energy and water consumption.

modernized absorbers of the flue gas desulfurization installation and extended the monitoring of industrial wastewater from that installation and modernized its wastewater treatment plant as a result of which it satisfied the BAT conclusion requirements. It also modernized electrostatic precipitators in units 2-7 and installed and replaced catalytic layers of its nitrogen oxide reduction system. In addition, studies were initiated on the impact on ichthyofauna of the Vistula River and the impact of the open cooling system on the river’s flow in the power plant area. The Company underwent an energy efficiency audit for the modernization of two cooling water pumps and upgraded the lighting of power unit 6, as a result of which it obtained energy efficiency certificates from the President of the Energy Regulatory Office with the values of 805.712 toe and 77.204 toe, respectively.  Moreover, in 2021 State Forests made pilot deliveries of energy willow to the Połaniec Power Plant. They were carried out based on transactions concluded through the e-drewno application in keeping with the terms of sales in effect in the State Forests. The cooperation fits within the assumptions of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council no. 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (REDII) and Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040, which envisage development of the local biomass market.  The power generation area utilizes only the fuel willow that is not suitable for other industrial sectors.

has completed the project of installing the catalytic flue gas denitrification installation (SCR) for the 500 MW Units 9 and 10, and construction of the ammonia water dosing, unloading and storage station II for Units 9 and 10. As part of the program of adapting the company to the BAT conclusions, 2 electrostatic precipitators of the 200 MW class units 3 and 8 were modernized along with three flue-gas desulfurisation plants (FGD I for the 500 MWe unit 9 and FGD II, FGD IV for 200 MWe units nos. 1-8), while four FGD wastewater treatment plants were automated and optimized (FGD II and FGD IV for 200 MWe Units 1-8), FGD I (500 MW Unit 9), FGD V (1000 MWe Unit 11)) and 5 automatic emergency mercury emission control/reduction systems were installed on FGD I, II, III, IV, V. A closed municipal waste collection system has also been improved and sealed on the company’s premises. As part of energy efficiency initiatives, the company modernized its lighting installations (warehouses M1 and M2 of the mazut pumping station No. 2 and ash retention tanks 1, 2, 3) and cooling water pumps PC5-8 of the 200 MW units. These measures will allow it to save approx. 1000.3 toe of final energy per year.

modernized the heat plant’s Control and Supervision System by improving control over the combustion process, which will help optimize emissions of pollutants. It also undertook measures to increase energy efficiency in heat transmission and distribution, for example by upgrading duct networks to pre-insulated ducts, modernizing heat distribution hubs, dividing group hubs into individual hubs and installing telemetric devices on heat distribution hubs. At the Białystok CHP Plant, a new System of Sustainability Criteria was implemented for production of heat and electricity from biomass, described by the standards of the Oil and Gas Institute consistent with the EU RED II Directive requirements, and three air conditioners were replaced at power switching stations C1A and C1B, which is important for reducing the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions.

cooperated with the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Szczecin and the Drawa National Park to unblock the Drawa River – a fish ladder was built. Work was performed to ensure correct functioning and correct monitoring of effectiveness of another fish ladder near the “Kamienna” Hydroelectric Plant.

modernized power lines and changed the cross-sections and configuration of the grid, which allowed it to reduce transmission losses, and replaced transformers with reduced loss models. What is important, the company’s grid investments have increased the capacity available for RES investments. The company additionally introduced a procedure for managing materials from dismantling tasks and waste. By reviewing and reusing dismantled materials it will reduce the amounts of generated waste.

finalized the start-up of a new CHP plant based on three gas sources and solar collectors. This cogeneration heat source commissioned in January 2022 will allow the company to reduce coal consumption by 7474 t annually, which will help reduce emissions and combat smog. The company also eliminated old sections of the district heating network, which reduced its heat losses. In order to increase energy efficiency, it also reconstructed and automated the thermo-hydraulic system of the KR-Zachód heat plant and installed energy-efficient equipment and automatic control systems.

purchased two electric cars, replaced light sources with LEDs at its location in Maszewo and carried out thermal modernization of the roof at its Poznań location.

replaced part of its vehicle fleet, with 2 hybrid cars and 4 gasoline cars taking the place of diesel vehicles.

lighting sources were gradually replaced with LED light sources.

reduced losses on heat transmission by replacing insulation of the district heating network (overhead and in channels).

ENEA Operator installed 65 platforms for stork nests and 7 platforms for osprey nests.

Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka cooperated with the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds on the conservation of peat ecosystems in the Łęczyńsko-Włodawskie Lake District to restore a suitable habitat for the Aquatic Warbler, a globally threatened species of passerine bird. In this geographic area the company also carried out joint actions with the Foundation for Nature: the project of creating new breeding sites for rare owl species launched in 2020 and the program for protection of cranes (implemented in partnership with the Voivodship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Lublin, Marshal’s Office in Lublin and Polesie National Park). Educational activities were also carried out together with the foundation: lessons on rare owl species for pre-schoolers and children from elementary schools, printing of the album entitled “Rare and disappearing species of animals of Lublin region”, contest for children on knowledge of nature and educating participants of the cyclical event “Farewell to the cranes”.

ENEA educated its customers on the importance of bees for humans and inspired them to create meadows for them. As part of the project, packets of seeds of nectar-rich flowers were prepared and supplied to Customer Service Offices in the form of biodegradable leaflets.

Through cooperation with the State Forests, a bird lookout was built in the Biskupice forest district to enable observation of water and marsh birds. During the opening, a nature photography workshop was conducted by a recognized nature photographer, Hubert Gajda, whose photographs can be admired inside the facility.

As part of the campaign named “We plant the next generation of forest”, volunteers from ENEA Elektrownia Połaniec and other Group companies planted one hectare of forest in the Staszów forest district, using 8 thousand oak seedlings. In the Osowo forest district, the Group’s volunteers together with representatives of the Lipka forest inspectorate planted around one and a half thousand seedlings of honey-growing species (including linden trees, hawthorns, cherry plums, guelder-roses), which will be beneficial for pollinating insects, as well as birds and some mammal species.

During the celebration of the World Fish Migration Day ENEA Elektrownia Połaniec worked with “Tygodnik Nadwiślański” to conduct an educational campaign, in which it engaged school children from neighboring areas of the plant, while its employees joined in a Vistula fish stocking campaign organized by anglers. For the third year in the row, volunteers from the company took up the task of cleaning up the Czarna River – during a canoing trip they collected waste strewn along the river. On the eve of the Earth Day, they also organized a cleaning campaign for a bank of the Vistula river, in which children from local kindergartens participated. The cleanup was preceded by educational presentations on segregation of waste and protection of the environment. Volunteers from the Połaniec Power Plant also joined the initiative of the Clean Poland Association and the United Nations Global Compact – a great clean-up of Baltic beaches.

The ENEA Foundation invited schools from Poznań, Staszów, Zielona Góra, Połaniec, Piła and Szczecin to participate in the campaign entitled “Help animals survive through winter”. Pupils learned how to protect and help birds in frosty weather and 30 elementary schools received feeders and nearly one ton of feed. Each school was also provided with educational materials and instruction for feeding birds.

In December 2021 a competition on knowledge of Kozienice Power Plant’s natural environment was launched. It was organized by the Mazowieckie-Świętokrzyskie Ornithological Society and the ENEA Wytwarzanie Communications Department and held under the following motto: “ENEA Wytwarzanie employees learn about the nature, species, habitats, animals and plants of their workplace”.

In 2021 a “Master of eco-photography” competition was organized for children up to 12 years of age from the counties of: Tarnobrzeg, Sandomierz, Staszów, Opatów, Stalowa Wola, Nisko, Mielec and Kolbuszowa. The children took photographs presenting environmentally-friendly behavior, such as saving water.

Lubelski Węgiel “Bogdanka” cooperates with the Łęczna township and the Krajobrazy Foundation to carry out activities in the area of sustainability and social participation. In 2021, the project was named ŁęcznaLab and in its performance further steps were taken to implement the recommendations from the report on spacial needs in Łęczna on the basis of community interviews. 5 honey meadows were planted in the town, which were subsequently replaced by shrub beds; each meadow had its own patron – a non-government organization. A “Green Room” was opened at the Local Cultural Center in Łęczna, in which various cultural and educational activities, including environmental protection activities, will be organized.

Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka, together with the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute in Puławy, carried out a specialist tests of farming soil in the neighborhood of the company. Based on the outcome of the tests, it organized a consultation and training meeting for local farmers, including those who leased farmland from the Company, for owners of plots within the Company’s area of impact and for interested employees. The meeting was devoted to the improvement of plant production technology in order to obtain crops of the desired quality in an environmentally-friendly manner, and taking into account the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy and the expected climate changes.