The potential for wind power on industrial sites is enormous, reaching 20 GW, according to the latest report “Potential of industrial sites for onshore wind power development,” prepared by the Renewable Energy Institute for the Re-Source Poland HUB. The technical potential of wind power plants that would be feasible on industrial land (in the absence of regulatory restrictions and additional system costs) is nearly 17 GW. This is a completely new perspective on wind power investment. Industrial sites, which have so far been overlooked as sites for wind investments with opportunities for connection to the local power grid, offer real potential for reducing the carbon footprint for industry and an attractive offer for providers of innovative wind power solutions.

Modern industry and the Polish economy as a whole are currently facing enormous challenges in meeting the goals of sustainable development and EU ESG requirements. To this end, experts from the Institute of Renewable Energy, commissioned by the Re-Source Poland HUB Foundation and the Polish Wind Energy Association, have developed a report “Potential of industrial sites for onshore wind energy development,” which addresses the challenges of the energy transition. The report shows a new perspective on wind power investments. For the first time, a detailed analysis of the potential of wind energy in industrial areas, until now often overlooked, has been made, and representing an important space for the development of the sector and its cooperation with industry.

According to the report, The potential for this type of energy reaches as much as 20 GW, a significant portion of the global resource and almost double the current installed capacity of onshore wind power. What’s more, of this impressive figure, as much as 88%, or 16.9 GW, is technical potential that could in principle be realized without having to contend with regulatory constraints or additional system costs. Within this potential, it is particularly noteworthy that 1.6 GW is a potential that takes into account area exclusions due to current environmental spatial conditions and possible conflicts, and is feasible for rapid implementation by 2030 – a real benefit for the economy, the entire energy industry and the environment during the expected energy investment gap.

– The new prospect of wind energy investment in industrial areas expands the possibilities for adapting new wind technologies and tailoring the supply chain to the specific needs of these areas. This could also spur the development of research in the wind energy sector seeking to adapt technologies to the requirements of industrial investors and energy consumers. Suggestions include research into reducing the cost of founding wind turbines on unstable land, increasing the height of towers, building power plants in areas prone to flooding, and increasing the resilience of post-industrial – says Szymon Kowalski, vice president of the Re-Source Poland HUB Foundation.

– The purpose of the report is to make a substantive contribution to the discussion of the proposed amendments to the law, which aim to further facilitate the siting of these power plants by liberalizing the regulations. Already, nearly 6,600 industrial, water, sewage and heating companies have access to land covering 190,000 hectares on which to consider locating wind power plants. According to preliminary calculations, the considered reduction of the required distance to 500 meters, could significantly increase the current market potential for wind power by up to 50% – up to 3.6 GW new. However, in the course of the work, the scenario related to the introduction of additional facilitations for the launch of investment potential in industrial (post-industrial) areas, where there are energy-intensive enterprises, which have the highest potential for the implementation of RES-based energy sources due to access to the power grid (they usually act as DSOs) and high prices for industrial energy supply – was not taken into account. Grzegorz Wiśniewski, president of the Renewable Energy Institute, adds.

As experts point out, the enacted amendments to the Law on Planning and Spatial Development give the possibility to implement a wind investment (as the so-called main one) together with an accompanying investment (usually infrastructure) within the framework of the so-called Integrated Investment Plan, adopted by a resolution of the municipality. However, in practice, such a procedure has not yet been popularized. Nonetheless, this paper assumes that spatial planning factors (municipal zoning resolutions) implicitly do not limit the potential for locating wind power plants on industrial land.

– It is also a recommended and fully justifiable path for industrial investment, which makes it possible to significantly shorten the investment cycle and maximize the real market potential. In this sense, the wind power market potential estimated in this study can be considered fully realizable by 2030 – says Szymon Kowalski, vice president of the Re-Source Poland HUB Foundation.

Industry as the largest energy consumer

It is also worth noting that the RES investments being considered more and more often on industrial sites for the purpose of supplying energy to industrial consumers naturally favor wind power over alternative investments in photovoltaics due to their energy consumption profile. The preferred solution for industry would be the construction of wind-solar hybrids in a cable pooling model or, at the site of larger industrial enterprises, on-site with possible direct line support.

– Of course, we realize that the development of wind power on industrial sites and for industrial use brings with it a number of challenges related to the need to adapt the technology. But at the other end, we have new prospects for sustainable and very economically efficient use of available resources. We believe that our report – providing a comprehensive perspective and concrete analyses – will become an inspiration for informed decisions on wind energy investments in industrial areas and will unlock the potential inherent in them, serving not only industrial energy consumers ,” says Grzegorz Wiśniewski, president of the Renewable Energy Institute.

A new look at industrial areas

The greater attractiveness of wind power investments on industrial land, relative to traditional investments on agricultural land, is due to several reasons:

  • Industrial areas are often characterized by better developed infrastructure, which greatly facilitates the process of construction and integration of wind farms with industrial energy consumers. Already existing factory power grids (including OSDn) with connections to medium voltage networks, access to transportation roads create favorable conditions for effective implementation of wind power projects, while reducing infrastructure costs,
  • potential electricity consumers are located in industrial areas, which can count on the currently cheapest wind power and reduce the carbon footprint of the products they need to compete in global markets with increasing ESG requirements,
  • Industry’s own investment (in industrial areas) in wind power contributes to the revitalization of these areas and increases the value of companies and industrial sites, and promotes the development of the renewable energy sector and local governments (communities living in these areas).

The entire report, “Potential of industrial sites for onshore wind energy development,” is available here:

https://resourcepoland.pl/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Potencja%C5%82-teren%C3%B3w_psew-RAPORT.pdf