A New Era for Energy and Meteorology

Weather Risk Management in Energy Sector: The Polish Case

“…Within the first area (direct impact), Ronalds et al [20] provide several examples of the manifestation of weather risk in the infrastructure damage of various energy sectors. For instance, in late 2010 to early 2011 coal mines in Queensland in Australia were severely disrupted by heavy rain and floods due to La Niña event.…”

“…The oil and gas industries are exposed to losses due to the devastating impact of hurricanes and storms, and in this case, hurricane Katrina in 2005 remains the costliest natural disaster (with high losses due to oil spills in Louisiana). Heatwaves are an example of a potentially dangerous weather-related risk for nuclear power plants, as it may cause ineffective cooling with water (when water temperatures are too high or water flows are too low), as observed in France in 2003 [20]. In the Polish context, a good example is the consequences of the excessive snowfalls, followed by frost wave, that occurred at the beginning of April 2008 in Szczecin (one of the largest Polish agglomerations) and its surroundings.…”

“…In this context, a growing demand (consumption) of energy is related to the growing supply of energy (and the use of fossil fuels), which in turn is blamed for the changing weather conditions we face nowadays. This encourages discussion on the urgent need to reduce energy demand (in the macro context), improve energy efficiency, and switch to carbon-free technologies [20].…”

“…Facing the undisputable growth of average Earth temperatures [1], the energy sector needs reliable forecasts and models. As noted by Ronalds et al [20], a new era for energy and meteorology studies has emerged, and the delivery of appropriate weather and climate information (services) is growing in importance [52]. An increasing number of relevant weather-related loss events worldwide is constantly reported by the platform NatCatService [53].…”

“…Weather risk is defined as related to the consequences of changing weather conditions [19]. In the context of the energy sector, the existing literature considers various methods and technological solutions that may enhance better assessment of weather risk (in this the frequency of risk occurrence) and the execution of better risk mitigation strategies (e.g., [20]). It should be noted that the majority of previous empirical studies is regionally oriented, with the purpose of deeper insight into a situation in a given country or geographic area.…”