According to the ESHA (European Small Hydropower Plants), Poland is now using only 19% of technical potential of its structures which puts the nation in the last positions in Europe. However, studies have shown that it is possible to increase the production from 41 TWh to 80 TWh by developing a modernization of existing plants, in order to increase their energy efficiency, and establishing new ones.
Some problems are hampering the development of these new technologies, especially, the larger unused hydropower potential is generated by social, economic and institutional barriers, but also the consequences of the climate changes, that are affecting the efficiency of investments. In order to fight these phenomena is necessary to attenuate the current laws that are blocking the investment feasibility. Possible solutions are represented by the use of potential and existing structures that would also facilitate the implementation of others renewable sources thanks to the storage capability and flexibility of hydropower plants. The energy potential in Poland is distributed in an irregular manner whit the largest part located in the upper part of the country (from Warsaw to the estuary near Danzig).
In the last years different concepts have been developed with the intention of achieving a cascade of water steps; this project has been realized in Włocławek, that’s the only dam with a production capacity of 160.2 MW which, through various installations, can generate from 507 to 857 MW with the consequent production of 3428 to 4221 GWh/year; this is good slice of the national production (2.1- 2.6%). The combination of a hydropower plant in the lower Vistula and a cascade of damming barrages can give a significant contribution in order to cover the energy demand. A new project, named Siarzewo, has been carried out in 2012 and it will be realized starting from the next year (2023-2029); it has been selected as protection of Włocławek barrage and its social, economic, and ecological effects