The main purpose of the paper is to expose hydropower as a highly valuable, scarcely utilised and increasingly marginalised renewable energy source in Poland. The technical hydropower potential of our country (12-5-14 GWh/annum), provided mainly by our large rivers (Vistula, San, Dunajec), is utilised in less than 16 %. Yet, no large classic hydro power plant has been commissioned for 35 years now, hydropower sector is consequently removed from the strategic development plans of our country-, abandoning or postponing dramatically needed projects in the civil engineering sector results in measurable economic losses and various threats, including those of human life. The paper lists some basic arguments for hydropower installations, including advantageous economic and ecological indicators, positive influence on the electrical power system safety and the electrical power quality, numerous benefits showing no direct relevance to the power industry sector. When discussing the influence of hydropower on the natural environment, the authors emphasise amelioration and stabilisation of water relationships and the capability to reduce the possible undesired effects using techniques of the modern environmental engineering. The paper discusses some essential obstacles and opportunities for the development of hydropower in Poland and reports on numerous although not always sufficiently effective actions of NGOs and representatives of local population. The need for consequent state policy in this respect is strongly emphasised.
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