Wind

Poland's election winners put wind rule changes on hold after political row

Proposal to reduce minimum distance to 300 metres from next settlement taken out of energy bill until new government under Donald Tusk is sworn in

PWEA President Janusz Gajowiecki.
PWEA President Janusz Gajowiecki.Foto: Bernd Radowitz/Recharge
The winners of Poland’s election in October around likely new prime minister Donald Tusk have postponed a plan to further soften the Eastern European country’s wind distance law after protests from the outgoing government over the proposal.
The outgoing administration led by the far-right populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) earlier this year had already reduced the minimum distance for new wind farms to the nearest settlement to 700 metres. That was down from a previously strict rule (also enacted by the PiS) that had imposed a minimum distance of 10 times the turbine tip height and choked off onshore wind development in Poland for several years.

But Tusk’s Civic Coalition and his Third Road allies as part of an energy bill proposal had included a reduction to a 300-metre distance, which has provoked controversy in Poland, with the PiS accusing the likely new government of having the draft written by lobbyists.

Outgoing climate and environment minister Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska according to the Euractiv website also claimed “the draft does not rule out expropriation […] and limits public participation (in the decision-making process)”, an accusation the Polish Wind Power Association denies, explaining a clause on expropriations in the draft is not intended for wind power, but for other energy infrastructure.
After the controversy, the newly formed coalition of Tusk supporters has amended the energy bill to no longer include the distance stipulation, the Reuters news agency said Wednesday.
It will now instead be discussed once the new government is sworn in next week, parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia said, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

PWEA after the postponement of the distance rule change published a statement saying: "The attack on wind energy and the use thereof in political combat consciously jeopardizes energy security of Poland."

PWEA on Tuesday had already said the intended 300-metre-rule didn’t really mean that wind farms would be able to be built at such a distance from houses.

”Our demands are clear and do not change - 500 meters of minimum distance is a solution that was developed during over two years of work on amending the Distance Act and it is a good compromise that does not raise any doubts on either side,” PWEA president Janusz Gajowiecki told Recharge.

“It should be noted that, apart from planning procedures, there are also environmental requirements for locating wind turbines, which each time verify the impact of these installations on the environment and indicate the final distance of the installation from buildings.

“If these tests show that the distance should be increased, it will be adjusted accordingly. It is estimated that due to the environmental impact, new turbines will be installed at a distance of 500 - 700 metres from buildings.”

Tusk is expected to be elected prime minister next week by a majority in parliament of his Civic Platform, the Third Way party and a smaller leftist party.

He hasn’t taken power yet as Poland’s president Andrzej Duda – who is also from the PiS – first allowed outgoing prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki to try to win another government majority in parliament despite his party and allies not having won the election. The president, who is still in power for another two years, also has the right to veto legislation.

UPDATES to add news from Wednesday that distance rule change postponed
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Published 5 December 2023, 15:04Updated 6 December 2023, 11:17
EuropePolandMarketsDonald Tusk