Tools
| Entry | Definition |
|---|---|
| Achievable capacity |
The maximum sustained capacity of a generating unit or generator, maintained continuously by a thermal generator for at least 15 hours or by a hydroelectric generator for at least five hours, at standardized operating conditions, as confirmed by tests |
| Ancillary control services (pol. RUS) | Services provided to the transmission system operator, which are indispensable for the proper functioning of the National Power System and ensure the keeping of required reliability and quality standards |
| Balancing market | A technical platform for balancing electricity supply and demand on the market. The differences between the planned (announced supply schedules) and the actually delivered/off-taken volumes of electricity are settled here. The purpose of the balancing market is to balance transactions concluded between individual market participants and actual electricity demand. The participants of the balancing market can be the generators, customers for electricity understood as entities connected to a network located in the balancing market area (including off-takers and network customers), trading companies, electricity exchanges and PSE S.A. as the balancing company. |
| Base, baseload | Standard product on the electricity market: a constant hourly power supply per day in a given period, for example week, month, quarter or year |
| BAT | Best Available Technology |
| Best practices |
The document „Best Practices for WSE-Listed Companies 2016,” adopted by the WSE Council on October 13, 2015, and in effect from January 1, 2016 |
| Biomass | Solid or liquid substances of plant or animal origin, subject to biodegradation, obtained from agricultural or forestry products, waste and remains or industries processing their products as well as certain other biodegradable waste, in particular agricultural raw materials |
| BREF | Best Available Techniques Reference Document |
| CCGT | Combined Cycle Gas Turbine |
| CHP/ CHP plant | Combined Heat and Power plant |
| Circular economy | system that minimises the consumption of resources and the level of waste as well as emissions and energy losses by creating a closed loop of processes in which waste from one process is used as resources in other processes so as to maximally reduce the quantity of production waste |
| Co-combustion | the generation of electricity or heat based on a process of combined, simultaneous combustion in one device of biomass or biogas together with other fuels; part of the energy thus generated can be deemed to be energy generated with the use of renewable sources. |
| Co-generation | The simultaneous generation of heat and electricity or mechanical energy in the course of one and the same technological process |
| Co-generation certificates | A certificate confirming generation of energy in highly-efficient co-generation, issued by the ERO President – so called red certificates (for electricity produced in co-generation with heat) and yellow certificates (for energy generated in gas-fired power plants and CCGT power plants) |
| Co-generation fee | Element of the electricity bill charged to finance the new support mechanism for highly-efficient cogeneration (auction system from 2019). |
| CSR | Corporate Social Responsibility |
| CVC fund |
Corporate Venture Capital; in the CVC model, portfolio companies, aside from financial support, receive the opportunity to verify their ideas in a corporate setting |
| Diffuse source energy | Generation of electricity, heat or cold, solid, liquid and gas fuels by smaller units or production facilities for local use |
| Distribution | Transport of energy through distribution grid of high (110 kV), medium (15kV) and low (400V) voltage in order to supply it to customers |
| DSO | Distribution System Operator – a power company engaging in the distribution of gaseous fuels or electricity, responsible for traffic in the gas or electricity distribution systems, current and long-term security of operation of the system, the operation, maintenance, repairs and indispensable expansion of the distribution network, including connections to other gas or power systems |
| EBIT | operating profit (loss) |
| EBITDA | EBIT + depreciation, amortisation, disposal and impairment losses (PPE, IA, goodwill) that are recognised in profit or loss |
| Energy cluster | Civil-law arrangement that may include natural persons, legal entities, scientific units, research institutes or local government units, concerning the generation, distribution or trade in energy and energy demand balancing, with this energy being from renewable sources or other sources or fuels, within a distribution grid with nominal voltage below 110 kV, within the operational area of the given cluster, not exceeding the area of one district (powiat) in the meaning of the act on district authorities) or 5 municipalities (gmina) in the meaning of the act on municipal authorities; an energy cluster is represented by a coordinator, which is a cooperative, association, foundation appointed for this purpose or any member of the energy cluster indicated in the civil-law arrangement |
| ERO | Energy Regulatory Office |
| ESCO | (Energy Saving Company or Energy Service Company) is a formula for implementing energy saving measures in cooperation with a company specializing in energy services. |
| ESG | Environment, Social, Governance – non-financial factors of the issuer’s assessment regarding the environmental risk (Environment), broadly understood issues of relations with the environment and stakeholders (Social) as well as managerial criteria and corporate governance (Governance) |
| EUA | European Union Allowances: transferable CO2 emission allowances; one EUA allows an operator to release one tonne of CO2 |
| EU ETS | European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme) EU emission trading scheme. Its operating rules are set out in the ETS Directive, amended by the Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 23, 2009 (OJ EU L. of 2009, No. 140, p. 63—87) |
| European Green Deal | Action plan for the sustainable economy of the European Union assuming the achievement of climate neutrality by 2050. Achieving this goal will require a socio-economic transformation in Europe: cost-effective, equitable and socially sustainable. The new program consists of initiatives in a number of closely related areas, such as climate, environment, energy, transport, industrial, agricultural and sustainable finance. The EU will also provide financial support and technical assistance to the people, businesses and regions most affected by the transition to the green economy. This will be achieved through the Just Transition Mechanism, under which the most affected regions are to receive EUR 150 billion in the period 2021–2027. |
| EW | Hydro power plant |
| FW | Wind farm |
| Generating unit | Technically and commercially defined set of equipment belonging to a power company and used to generate electricity or heat and to transmit power |
| GJ | Gigajoule, a unit of work/heat in the SI system, 1 GJ = 1 000/3.6 kWh = approximately 278 kWh |
| Green certificate | A certificate confirming generation of energy from renewable energy sources, issued by the ERO President |
| GW | Gigawatt, a unit of capacity in the SI system, 1 GW = 109 W |
| GWe | One gigawatt of electric capacity |
| GWt | One gigawatt of thermal capacity |
| High Voltage Network (HV) | A network with a nominal voltage of 110 kV |
| IED | Industrial Emissions Directive |
| IGCC | Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle |
| Installed capacity | The formal value of active power recorded in the design documentation of a generating system as being the maximum achievable capacity of that system, confirmed by the acceptance protocols of that system (a historical value, it does not change over time) |
| IRZ | Cold Intervention Reserve Service – service consisting of maintaining power units ready for energy production. Energy is produced on request of PSE S.A |
| Just Transition Fund | Just Transition Fund is the first pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism. The fund, as proposed by the European Commission, will have the task of supporting regions whose economy is largely based on activities that generate high carbon dioxide emissions. According to the proposal of the European Commission of 28 May 2020, the fund will have a budget of EUR 40 billion – EUR 10 billion is to come from the EU budget, while the remaining funds up to EUR 40 billion in the years 2021-2024 are external revenues allocated for a specific purpose from the European Facility for Reconstruction. To unlock funding from the Just Transition Fund, EU countries will have to allocate 1.5 to 3 euros from their European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for every 1 euro they receive from the part of the fund financed from the EU budget (10 billion euro) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF +). This expenditure from the EU budget will be complemented by national co-financing in line with the principles of cohesion policy. Thus, the total financing capacity from the Just Transition Fund exceeds EUR 89 billion and may amount to EUR 107 billion. |
| Just Transition Mechanism | The Just Transition Mechanism is a key tool to ensure that the transition to a climate neutral economy (European Green Deal) is carried out fairly. The mechanism provides targeted support in regions most affected by the negative socio-economic effects of the transition. The Just Transition Mechanism contributes to mitigating the social and economic impacts of transition by focusing on the industries and workers most affected, and by mobilizing at least € 150 billion for investments between 2021 and 2027 through three pillars: the Just Transition Fund, a dedicated system under InvestEU and the new European Investment Bank loan facility. |
| kV | Kilo volt, an SI unit of electric potential difference, current and electromotive force; 1kV= 103 V |
| kWh | kilowatt-hour, a unit of electric energy in the SI system defined as the volume of electricity used by the 1 kW equipment over one hour. 1 kWh = 3 600 000 J = 3.6 MJ |
| Low Voltage Network (LV) | A network with a nominal voltage not exceeding 1 kV. |
| Medium-voltage network (MV) | A network with a nominal voltage higher than 1 kV but lower than 110 kV. |
| MSR | Market Stability Reserve (relating to CO2) |
| MW | Unit of capacity in the SI system, 1 MW = 106 W) |
| MWe | One megawatt of electric power |
| MWt | One megawatt of thermal power |
| NOx | Nitrogen oxides |
| NPS | The National Power System, a set of equipment for the distribution, transmission and generation of electricity, forming a system to allow the supply of electricity in the territory of Poland |
| ORM | Operational capacity reserve; generation capacities of Active Scheduling Generation Units (JGWa) being in operation or at stand-by, constituting excess capacity available to PSE S.A. over demand for electricity that is covered by Energy Sale Agreements and on the Balancing Market under voluntary generation |
| Peak, peakload | Standard product on the electricity market; a constant power supply from Monday to Friday, each hour between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (15-hour standard for the Polish market) or between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (12-hour standard for the German market) in a given period, for example week, month, quarter or year. |
| PJ | Petajoule, a unit of work/heat in the SI system, 1 PJ = approx. 278 GWh |
| Photovoltaics | The processing of sunlight into electricity |
| Property rights | negotiable exchange-traded rights under green and co-generation certificates |
| Prosumer | end customer who purchases electricity under a comprehensive agreement and generates electricity only from renewable sources at a micro-installations for own purposes, unrelated to economic activities |
| PSCMI1 | Polish Steam Coal Market Index 1 – average level of prices of coal dust sold to industrial-scale power plants in Poland |
| Pumped storage plant | Special type of hydro-power plant allowing for electricity storage. It uses the upper reservoir, to which water is pumped from the lower reservoir using electricity (usually excessive in system). The pumped storage facilities provide ancillary control services for the national power system. In periods of increased demand for electricity, water from the upper reservoir is released through the turbine. This way, electricity is produced. |
| PV | Photovoltaics |
| RAB | Regulatory Asset Base. |
| Regulator | The President of ERO, fulfilling the tasks assigned to him in the energy law. The regulator is responsible for, among others, giving out licenses for energy companies, approval of energy tariffs, appointing Transmission System Operators and Distribution System Operators. |
| RES | Renewable Energy Source, a source of generation using wind power, solar radiation, geothermal energy, waves, sea currents and tides, flow of rivers and energy obtained from biomass, landfill biogas as well as biogas generated in sewage collection or treatment processes or the disintegration of stored plant or animal remains |
| RES fee | The Renewable Energy Source fee serves to ensure the availability of energy from renewable sources in the national power system. The RES fee is allocated solely to cover the negative balance due to settlements of energy from renewable sources between producers of this energy and sellers of electricity generated from renewable energy sources, and operating costs of Zarządca Rozliczeń S.A. (renewable energy fee holder). |
| SAIDI | System Average Interruption Duration Index – index of average system interruption time (long, very long and disastrous), expressed in minutes per customer per year, which is the sum of the interruption duration multiplied by the number of consumers exposed to the effects of this interruption during the year, divided by the total number of off-takers. SAIDI does not include interruptions lasting less than three minutes and is determined separately for planned and unplanned interruptions. It applies to breakdowns in the low (LV), medium (MV) and high voltage (HV), wherein SAIDI in quality tariff does not include interruptions on low voltage. |
| SAIFI | System Average Interruption Frequency Index – index of average system amount of interruptions ( long, very long and disastrous ), determined as number of off-takers exposed to the effects of all such interruptions during the year divided by the total number of off-takers. SAIFI does not include interruptions lasting less than three minutes and is determined separately for planned and unplanned interruptions. It applies to breakdowns in the low (LV), medium (MV) and high voltage (HV), wherein SAIFI in quality tariff does not include interruptions on low voltage. |
| Smog | Toxic and unnatural atmospheric event created as a result of air mixing with smoke and exhaust fumes. Smog is derived from two English words: smoke and fog. Smog appears over cities and industrial areas. The main reason for smog in many Polish cities is small-scale emissions, i.e. pollution that is generated in household furnaces, local boiler rooms and car use |
| SO2 | Sulphur dioxide |
| SPOT market |
The market on which transactions are carried out no later than on the second business day from the time they were ordered. |
| Start-up | Early-stage company established in order to build new products or services and characterised by a high level of uncertainty. The most common features of start-ups are: short operational history (up to 10 years), innovativeness, scalability, higher risk than in the case of traditional businesses but also potential higher returns on investment. |
| Tariff | The list of prices and rates and terms of application of the same, devised by an energy enterprise and introduced as binding on the customers specified therein in the manner defined by an act of parliament. |
| Tariff group | a group of customers off-taking electricity or heat or using services related to electricity or heat supply to whom a single set of prices or charges and terms are applied |
| TGE | Towarowa Giełda Energii S.A. (Polish Power Exchange), a commodity exchange on which trading can take place in electricity, liquid or gas fuels, extraction gas, emission allowances and property rights whose price depends directly or indirectly on electric energy, liquid or gas fuels and emission allowances, admitted to commodity exchange trading. |
| TPA, TPA rule | Third Party Access, the owner or operator of the network infrastructure to third parties in order to supply goods/services to third party customers. |
| Transmission | transport of electricity through high voltage (220 and 400 kV) transmission network from generators to distributors |
| TSO | Transmission System Operator – a power company engaging in the transmission of gaseous fuels or electric energy, responsible for traffic in a gas or power transmission system, current and long-term security of operation of that system, the operation, maintenance, repair and indispensable expansion of the transmission system, including connections with other gas or power systems. In Poland, for the period from July 2, 2014 till December 31, 2030 Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne S.A. was chosen as a TSO in the field of electricity transmission. |
| TWh | Terawatt hour, a multiple unit for measuring of electricity unit in the system SI. 1 TWh is 109 kWh. |
| Ultra-high-voltage network (UHV) | an energy network with a voltage equal to 220 kV or higher. |
| V (volt) | Electrical potential unit, electric voltage and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI), 1 V= 1J/1C = (1 kg x m2) / (A x s3). |
| W (watt) | Aa unit of power in the International Systems of Units (SI), 1 W = 1J/1s = 1 kg x m2 x s-3. |
