The arguments of government members or business appeals – not only investors from the renewable energy industry, but also SMEs or large energy recipients or local governments – did not help. According to the announcements submitted in the election campaign, Karol Nawrocki vetoed the so -called Distance Act, citing social protests against investment.
The head of state did not convince the “selection” in the provisions on freezing energy prices by the end of this year – shortly after the veto, he sent his own project to the Sejm on this subject.
According to the Minister of Energy Miłosz Motyk, hindering the development of windmills, Nawrocki “stood on the side of fossil fuels import” and spoke against the energy safety of Poland. What do experts say about the veta and its effects today?
Read also: “The president will be responsible for higher electricity prices.” The Minister of Energy about the Vette
Experts on the veto of Karol Nawrocki to the windmill act. They have bad news
– This is bad news for the development of the Polish economy. We need quick investments in energy security and affordable energy for industry – comments Michał Smoleń, head of the Energia & Klimat program at the Instrat Foundation. It indicates the objectification of municipalities in the vetoed act – they were to issue the final consent to locate windmills as part of spatial planning.
The regulation also provided for financial benefits for the inhabitants of the area where installations will be created. It is a participatory fund, under which farm owners would pay 20,000 PLN annually from each installed megawat. Money would go directly to the residents.
Smoleń adds that despite the problems, the industry is developing anyway. At the same time, he mentions elements of a certain political continuity in ensuring good conditions for windmills. – Wind energy plays a key role in the energy transformation scenario promoted by the current government, but was also included in the PiS government plans, especially since the energy crisis.
Liberalized by the right in 2023, distance rules (700 meters from buildings) allow, according to our analyzes, windmill location for approx. 3-4 percent. the country's surface – not enough, but much more than the infamous 10h from 2016 – he explains.
According to the expert, the priority for now should be accelerating permits, which will reduce the construction time of the installation; Even with a distance of 700 m. There are also more soft factors.
– We also need a narrative counteroffensive: unfortunately, in many municipalities, myths or disinformation strongly influence the decisions on windmills. I hope that the president and opposition will show elementary responsibility here – he states. – Contrary to open political disputes, the need to catch up with the wind on land is obvious to the participants of the energy market and experts from all sides of the barricade – sums up Smoleń.
500 m is not the most important
For Marta Anczewska, senior analyst for energy and climate policy at the Reform Institute, a veto for the distance act is a clear effect of political polarization that prevents the pro -development consensus. As he says, it also The defeat of the rulers in the information and educational fields.
– The windmills were demonized and the other side lacked constructive preparation for a conversation with the society about the benefitswhich may be associated with land wind energy and energy transformation as such. No ministry or government agenda feels to be an entity that should undertake such a mission – he says.
He adds that in this context the loss of the participatory fund is particularly bad news. – I hope that both power centers will take dialogue and this solution can be saved in the next act. Sharing the investor's financial benefits with the local community is a mechanism that is used all over the world. The lack of this type of participation is simply unfair. Details of the proposal can still be improved by transferring the focus from direct payments for residents to joint income of municipalities. As a rule, however, the fund was a better idea than the complicated and exclusion of poor virtual prosumer institutions (according to previous legislative proposals, people living close to the windmills could buy up to 10 % of their installed power – editor's note). – argues Anczewska.
The expert selects – We live during the information warwhich meant that the issue of social acceptance over time became one of the key barriers for the development of land wind energy. For almost a decade, throughout the entire period of 10 hours, the public debate focused on the issue of the permissible distance from the buildings; Today, however, says Anczewska, paradoxically, she is not a basic problem.
– The strike in a thriving industry as a result of the 10h principle adopted in 2016 was shocking, which is why we talked primarily about the distance. Modeling showed the advantages of a 500 m principle, but modern turbines would usually be installed further, because the necessary distance would indicate an environmental impact assessment. The biggest challenges for the industry are somewhere else – he explains.
Will we have enough electricity in five years?
In addition to social acceptance, it is also a matter of accelerating procedures. Estimates of the Institute of Reform indicate that obtaining all permits for the construction of a wind farm in Poland lasts from 5 to 7 years on average. The distance act was to shorten this time, allowing at the same time to apply for an environmental and planning decision (taking into account the investment in the local spatial development plan).
– This is another matter to be repaired. The inability to conduct both processes in parallel is one of the main barriers to the industry today. We should eliminate it as soon as possible – says Anczewska, adding that such systemic improvement would also facilitate other investment processes – not only in the wind or renewable energy industry.
Is it enough to need the necessary powers without a sufficient number of new windmills in our power system? The changing versions of the National Plan in the field of energy and climate expressed the realization of forecasts, responding to problems with the adoption of a distance act. Last year's version of the document showed 19 GW in the wind on land until 2030, while the current one is already limited to 16.6 GW.
– This number results from modeling, which takes into account the balance of the system after the withdrawal of coal blocks. To put it simply: with such power in windmills in five years, we should not miss electricity. However, if we do not achieve this result and the windmills will be less, the risk of a production gap or the need to maintain unprofitable coal blocks that will not be able to work through drips from the state budget – warns Anczewska.
Don't we really want windmills? Research says clearly
Although, justifying the veto, the president referred to social reluctance to land wind energy, a picture that spills out of research shows something else.
According to the latest data of More in Common Polska, The development of wind farms is supported by 64 percent our society. The lower, but still majority percentage are people declaring that It would not mind investing close to his own place of residence – this opinion is expressed by 53 percent. respondents.
A positive attitude towards windmills prevails Even among voters Law and Justice.
–Poles begin to see an opportunity for themselves in the energy transformation, and appropriate solutions can only increase the level of acceptance for windmills and renewable energy in general. The distance act contained provisions that were to translate into direct benefits for the residents. The president's decision is therefore harmful in this context – says Agnieszka Stupkiewicz, legal councilor from the Frank Bold Foundation and an expert for the Civic Energy.
He adds that the act also includes less known public opinions on energy cooperatives. – These were very needed recipes that did not arouse any controversy. Registration of new cooperatives was to be simplified, and standards regarding commercial balance sheet for small renewable energy installations, adapted to EU law. The veto means that we will wait longer for the right regulations – says Stupkiewicz.
The expert agrees that the interest of the wind industry is moving from the distance to the efficiency and pace of permoration procedures. Despite the veto, which pushed over the possibility of parallel occurrence of environmental and planning decisions, hopes for faster permitting have not yet gone down.
– The chances of acceleration are made up of areas of accelerated RES development, in which the process of issuing environmental decisions is not to exceed six months – says our interlocutor. – The areas are to be excluded where there may be a significant environmental impact. In addition, they will be able to arise only where there are already local spatial development plans, which gives hope for the participation and acceptance of local communities – he continues.
Read also: Where to build renewable energy faster? We are already exceeding important dates today
Registration about the areas of accelerated RES development is present in the so -called offshore act. As Stupkiewicz says, proposals may require corrections, but show that The veto for the principle of 500 m does not yet mean the definitive end of facilitations for renewable energy in our country.
