WARSAW, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Apart from the damage it caused, Storm Ciara also blew wind turbines efficiently in Poland, setting new record highs of wind powered energy in the country.
While Storm Ciara -- known as Sabine in Poland and Germany -- roared with gusts up to over 100 kilometers per hour, green energy enthusiasts were rejoicing as the amount of energy provided by the clean, renewable source of power surpassed 30 percent of the energy delivered to the Polish Power Grid for the first time over the weekend, Polish Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The storm hit Poland from the west on Sunday and continued blowing until Monday evening. The Polish Power Grid said that wind turbines had contributed 5 gigawatts (GW) to the total demand of 23.6 GW, meaning that wind energy supplied over 21 percent of the total on Monday morning.
From Sunday night to Monday, the respective figures were 4.8 GW and 30 percent as energy demands were lower.
Poland held the largest onshore wind farm auction ever in Europe last December with a total volume of 2.2 GW being auctioned off. A report by the Polish Wind Energy Association estimates that offshore wind projects could offer 77,000 jobs and provide about 60 billion zloty (15.39 billion U.S. dollars) to the gross domestic product (GDP).
