'Chaotic and duplicative': Life on the front line of wind farm permitting

Glacial permitting procedures are a perennial complaint for European wind industry executives – but what’s it like for local officials at the coal face of approving renewable energy projects? We asked.

Gmina Potegowo is a municipality in northern Poland with a population of around 6,400 residents in an area of roughly 230 square kilometres. Its administrative centre is around 76km west of the regional capital, Gdansk.

There is something very special about this otherwise nondescript Polish municipality, however. In the 17 years since the first wind turbine was installed there – amid swirling rumours that they would stop chickens laying eggs, and cows producing milk – Potegowo has become a trailblazer for installing renewables projects.

The municipality has 79 renewable energy installations, including 56 wind turbines with a total capacity of 157MW, and another 23 are in the process of being commissioned. The annual potential of these facilities is over 340GWh, which is enough to power Potegowo and about 10 similar municipalities.

Potegowo’s success is not just good news for the energy transition in Poland, revenues from wind farms alone bring in 4.6 million złoty ($1.3m) annually to the municipality’s budget.

“It allows us to carry out long-awaited investments for our residents, such as roads, lighting, fire trucks and school buses.”

“If someone were to ask today whether we could have completed the investments we’ve made in recent years without the wind farms, the answer is simple: no.”

‘It causes chaos – and there is no justification’

But even a municipality as accomplished as Litwin’s in deploying renewables is no permitting paradise. It also struggles with the arduous, laboured and often painstakingly slow process of helping bring projects to life.

Each wind farm’s permitting journey “begins in the commune,” said Litwin, with a developer asking for permission to locate a wind farm in a certain area. And the first stage, agreeing on a special development plan, is “extremely time-consuming.”

On average, he said two years pass from the developer submitting its initial application to the commune – which has just one person responsible for special planning on its books – to it being approved (or not) by the commune council.

Projects that need additional approvals – for example from a government minister because they are on protected land – can take another 6-12 months.

There is another element that introduces “chaos,” he said.

The starting point for locating wind farms is the adoption of a local spatial development plan, which is governed by the Spatial Planning and Development Act. But there is also a “special act” for wind turbines that needs to be considered.

Having this separate act leads to “legislative chaos and significantly complicates the preparation of planning documents,” said Litwin. “Instead of a clear and coherent procedure, we face the need to constantly refer to various legal acts, which disrupts the work of authorities and increases the risk of formal errors.”

All the relevant rules should be included in one “primary act,” said Litwin, who argues there is “no justification for excluding wind farm planning from the main system.”

Another bugbear is that neighbouring municipalities are forced to notify their residents in the press about the start of a planning procedure in the municipality where wind farms are to be located.

The neighbouring municipality issues an opinion on the draft local plan, said Litwin. It has a set timeframe to issue this opinion, and must also announce this, which he noted brings “additional costs”.

These opinions are not binding for the municipality planning the turbine locations, he said. “The neighbouring municipality is assigned extra tasks, but no one is obliged to consider its position.”

“It’s work for the sake of work, and looking at our projects, the interest from residents of neighbouring municipalities is zero.

Paper processes in a digital age

A key part of the EU legislation passed in 2023 includes provisions requiring states to implement digital permitting for projects like wind farms in order to help speed the cumbersome process.

“Digitalisation is the key to streamlining the entire process,” said Litwin. “We are learning this, but very slowly.”

A reform of Polish spatial planning was introduced in 2023, he said, with one of the goals to digitise data and make public consultations more transparent, including through the creation of an online register of planned projects.

However not all authorities, despite the obligation, have introduced digitalisation. This results in “double work,” he said. “Not only do we have to conduct the procedure electronically, but we also have to prepare paper versions for some institutions and send them out.”

“This involves additional printing, burning CDs, and mailing costs.”

Bartosik is currently leading efforts at WindEurope to develop an online tool, ‘EasyPermits’, that can be rolled out across the continent and help local authorities such as Potegowo streamline permitting procedures.

Litwin believes the tool has a “good chance of success” – so long as using it does not in and of itself generate “additional work.”

Mixed feelings on more centralised decision-making

One debate that repeatedly rears its head when it comes to infrastructure permitting – whether for wind, solar or grids – is whether more decisions should be taken out of local hands entirely.

The logic goes that more centralised decision-making carried out by specialists in permitting such projects would be quicker and more efficient.

Central planning of wind farms would “certainly be a great relief for the commune,” said Litwin – “but we cannot forget that this is the first stage and public consultations are extremely important”.

“Residents have much greater trust in local authorities than in centralised ones.”

Wind turbines can “arouse extreme emotions,” he said. Having a reliable source of information that can be “obtained on site in ‘my office’ means a lot to the local community.”

What developers can do to avoid ‘unpleasant surprises’

Wind power executives may well throw their hands up in frustration at the pace of permitting procedures, but what can developers actually do to help the people like Litwin who carry out this vital work?

Litwin said they should “prepare thoroughly” for the process, including checking if their projects conflict with local regulations concerning distances from residential buildings and protected areas.

Litwin continued that "providing well-prepared material to the municipality always speeds up and facilitates the commencement of procedures."

“Developers should define the project area, examine distances from residential buildings, and indicate distances from protected areas. They must know the turbine parameters, the number of turbines, and their preliminary locations.”

“Environmental monitoring – such as bird or bat migration studies – are also very important,” he said. “These studies aren’t mandatory, but from experience, we know that preparing them early helps avoid unpleasant surprises later in the process.”

Another crucial aspect is that the developer deals up front with possible local objections, he said, stressing the importance of presenting benefits that communities will receive from a project.

Litwin said his team is always up front with developers about potential challenges for their projects.

“We always ‘play with open cards.’”