Installing wind turbines, already tricky due to a law that has been in force since 2016, will be made even harder if an amendment the ruling PiS party is currently working on to trigger the release of frozen EU recovery funds is approved.
To receive currently blocked EU recovery funds from the European Commission, Poland must work on implementing so-called milestones, including liberalising wind energy law.
The law currently prohibits the construction of wind turbines according to the so-called 10H rule, which was adopted due to the noise operating wind turbines generates.
In other words, turbines cannot be set up within a radius of 10 turbines from residential buildings and nature conservation parks such as reserves. The same 10H rule applies to the construction of residential buildings.
But because respecting such a provision requires having a great deal of land, developing renewables in fossil-fuel-reliant Poland has proven difficult.
In its first attempt to amend the law, the government proposed to set a minimum distance of 500 metres between turbines and residential homes, so that the 10H rule only applies to national parks.
Following an amendment tabled by PiS MP Marek Suski, who chairs the parliamentary energy committee, the minimum distance was increased to 700 metres – a proposal politicians and experts agree will further limit investment opportunities for wind power plants in Poland.
“The Law and Justice party wants to fulfil the Commission’s condition, but they don’t really want windmills in Poland,” said MP Małgorzata Tracz from the Green party. According to her, Suski’s amendment will reduce the potential for wind energy development in Poland by 50%.
According to estimates from the country’s climate ministry, however, onshore wind energy has the potential to create 15,000 new jobs.
“Windmills are a source of cheap, clean energy, but like photovoltaics, they can only be a good addition to the energy mix. No matter how many we have, stable capacity is always needed,” Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa told Polsat News.
To satisfy the Commission’s requirements, the opposition said it will introduce the necessary steps to liberalise the country’s wind power law if it wins the elections in Autumn.
(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
