摘要
The most economical and rational means of heat supply for city inhabitants are district heating systems. Heat generated in power plants and large heat sources is cheaper than heat from individual sources. The reason for that is the amount of the generated heat and the used fuel （coal for most heat sources）. District heating, a very important energy sub-sector for the Polish economy, provides heat supply to centralised heating systems, which, on average, satisfy 72% of the demand for heat in Polish cities. Therefore, several million Polish citizens use heat from district heating systems that produce heat in professional, industrial and municipal power plants. In Europe, over 100 million citizens use district heating systems. The present situation of the Polish district heating sector is a result of Poland＇s transformation that took place at the beginning of the 1990s. The reform put the obligation of heat supply on the local authorities, on the municipality, instead of the state. Along with the transformation, district heating also made huge technological and technical progress. Increasing expectations of recipients posed new challenges for the branch, however.
