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The Polish authorities is shifting nearer in the direction of undoing a rule it launched in 2016 that severely hinders the constructing of onshore wind farms, say three officers. Beforehand, Poland had been amongst Europe’s leaders in putting in wind capability, however after 2016 new funding dried up.
Nonetheless, latest years have seen Poland’s traditionally coal-friendly ruling Regulation and Justice (PiS) celebration more and more shift in the direction of renewables, in addition to nuclear, a course of that has been given even larger urgency by the warfare in Ukraine and resultant push to maneuver away from Russian fossil fuels.
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The regulation in query, often known as the “10H rule”, forbids the development of wind farms the place there are buildings inside a distance of ten occasions the peak of the turbine.
That has resulted in one of the restrictive regulatory regimes in Europe, successfully making it not possible to construct wind farms on 99.7% of Polish land, wrote Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt, the chief vitality professional of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers (ZPP), in an opinion issued final 12 months.
Because of this, whereas in 2015 – the final 12 months earlier than the rule was launched – Poland put in 1,266 MW of onshore wind capability (the second most of any nation in Europe), between 2017 and 2019 it put in a median of solely 34 MW yearly.
There was a slight revival since 2020, and in January this 12 months, a brand new file was set for the quantity of energy generated by wind. Generators equipped round a 3rd of Poland’s electrical energy wants at occasions that month. Over the entire of final 12 months, onshore wind offered round 8% of Poland’s electrical energy.
Nonetheless, analysts and business figures say that the 10H rule continues to be stopping Poland from attaining its full wind potential. In response, the federal government in Could final 12 months revealed draft laws that may ease laws, giving native officers management over deciding the situation of latest wind farms.
Generators would nonetheless need to be a minimal of 500 metres from present buildings, however past that their location can be set beneath native growth plans. The 10H rule would even be eliminated in relation to nature safety, studies information web site Interia.
“Work [on the bill] is superior; in line with our data, it’s deliberate to come back into drive within the second quarter of this 12 months,” Aneta Piątkowska, an official from the event and expertise ministry, instructed a parliamentary committee on Friday.
Poland generated file quantity of electrical energy from wind in January
Andrzej Kaźmierski, one other official from the identical ministry, added that the laws is “in precept prepared” and is now present process remaining authorized scrutiny.
In an interview with Dziennik Gazeta Prawna revealed yesterday, deputy setting ministry Ireneusz Zyska likewise stated that the invoice was now prepared and that he anticipated it to be mentioned quickly by the cupboard. Zyska additionally criticised the delays in processing the laws.
“I imagine that it’s a nice loss for the Polish financial system that the work on this matter is so dragging on and that the 10H rule has not but been liberalised,” he instructed the newspaper. “We lose out on daily basis as a result of onshore wind is presently the most affordable technique to generate vitality.”
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Janusz Gajowiecki, president of the Polish Wind Vitality Affiliation (PWEA), claims that the price of producing electrical energy from onshore wind is between 3 and three.5 occasions decrease than from fossil fuels.
“Accelerating and enabling new investments in renewable vitality…[is] not solely a necessity for defense of the local weather or an financial alternative, however above all a necessity from the viewpoint of Poland’s sovereignty and its nationwide curiosity,” he stated final week.
The Polish authorities’s present vitality technique foresees renewables accounting for 23% of the nation’s consumed vitality by 2030, up from 12% in 2019. It has overseen a growth in photo voltaic installations and has additionally inspired state-owned vitality companies to put money into offshore wind within the Baltic Sea.
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Fundamental picture credit score: DAMIAN KRAMSKI / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a variety of publications, together with International Coverage, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
