Lower Silesian Cluster of Renewable Energy

„Biomass Group” working in Lower Silesian Renewable Energy Cluster consists of:

- 6 Lower Silesian district heating companies:

• Municipal District Heating Company Ltd. in Świdnica (Miejski Zakład Energetyki Cieplnej w Świdnicy Sp. z o.o.),
• Voivodeship District Heating Company Plc. in Legnica (Wojewódzkie Przedsiębiorstwo Energetyki Cieplnej w Legnicy S.A.),
• District Heating Company Ltd. in Góra (Zakład Energetyki Cieplnej Sp. z o.o. w Górze),
• Bielawa District Heating Company (Bielawskie Przedsiębiorstwo Energetyki Cieplnej),
• District Heating Company Plc in Wałbrzych (Przedsiębiorstwo Energetyki Cieplnej S.A. w Wałbrzychu),

• ECO Jelenia Góra Ltd.

- 2 expert/consulting organisations:

• Free Entrepreneurship Association (Stowarzyszenie Wolna Przedsiębiorczość),
• Bielawa Local Development Agency Ltd. (Bielawska Agencja Rozwoju Lokalnego Spółka z o.o.)

-  2 technology providers:

• Mostostal Dolny Śląsk Sp. z o.o.
• PUHiP ŚFUP Servis Sp. z o.o.

- 2 biomass producers and providers

• AGRO-LEG Sp. z o.o.,
• Agro-Term Polska Sp. z o.o.

Biomass Group concentrates on:

• creating multi-entity shopping group; integrating fragmented biomass suppliers, organisations and logistics of a supply system for Lower Silesian thermal-electric power stations; energy plants tillage promotion among farmers and promotion of longstanding contracts for biomass waste from tillage (such as straw, hay etc.),
• development and implementation of new technologies using biomass for energy purposes (e.g. gasification technology in Municipal District Heating Company Ltd. in Świdnica),
• promotion of investments exploiting wet and dry biomass for gas production (biogas plants),
• creating local, decentralised systems exploiting clean biomass in cogeneration systems and individual boilers (e.g. pellet boiler),

Nowadays biomass is the cheapest and most acceptable by energy sector source of renewable energy in Poland. It can be combusted in industrial kettles that produce heat and electricity (biofuel cogeneration). Bioenergy is also a chance for socio-economical activation of small communities that have substantial and often not used agrarian resources. It’s a chance for the agriculture as well.

In experts’ opinion if we managed to use our fallows, we would be an absolute leader in covering our energy needs by energetic agriculture. We need to remember that the effectiveness of energetic plants gas fermentation is considerably higher than their conversion to liquid biofuels. There are about 2 million hectares of fallows in Poland now and only few have idea what to do with them. Well, the start of energetic agriculture gives us the opportunity to solve problems connected with the new EU agricultural policy that is being planned.