Following the meeting of the President of the Supreme Audit Office, Krzystof Kwiatkowski, with the Polish Wind Energy Association Board the SAO intends to repeat the audit of the development of this industry in Poland. The purpose is to remove the barriers hindering the increase in renewable capacity, primarily wind.
During the meeting held on 9 January a representative of the SAO expressed concern with the halt to wind energy investments in Poland, already admitted in the report on green energy published in November 2018.
In the report the SAO warned that the achievement by Poland of the assumed 15 percent target share of energy from renewable sources in 2020 may be at risk. This may result in the need for statistical transfer of green electricity from countries with surpluses. The cost has been estimated at no less than PLN 8 billion.
During the meeting with President Kwiatkowski the representatives of the wind energy industry emphasized technological progress, which caused the increase in the share of wind energy in total energy consumption to decrease the price of electricity, increasing the competitiveness of the economy. This pertains both to taxes, the majority of which is received by municipalities hosting wind farms, and the development of industry manufacturing particular wind turbine components in our country.
Furthermore, PWEA stressed that the attitude of the public to wind farms is changing. A survey carried out by PWEA demonstrated that 70 percent of Polish citizens does not oppose to wind energy development.
The SAO voted for the removal of barriers hindering wind energy development which today preclude new wind projects and construction of more modern and more efficient turbines.
Cooperation with the SAO may constitute a serious argument for politicians to liberalise or abandon the “10 H principle” that brought wind energy development in Poland to a halt and caused the investment gap.
The January meeting was continued during the debate on the future of the energy sector in Poland, held in the SAO registered office on 24 January. The experts related to the RES sector included Janusz Gajowiecki, PWEA President.“Technological progress has caused wind energy, both onshore and offshore, to become stable and profitable. The increase in its share in total energy consumption will decrease the price of electricity, increasing the competitiveness of the economy,” argued PWEA President.
“SAO was never against wind energy. The results of the SAO’s audit were misinterpreted, which was used to adopt the Distance Act,” Director Sławomir Grzelak from the SAO explained.
He referred to the SAO report from July 2014. Following verification of the report PWEA demonstrated a series of irregularities, both related to defects in improper planning, environmental or construction procedures and systemic irregularities affecting the investment process.
We remind that the verification of the SAO materials and the obtained source documents resulted in PWEA demonstrating that the share of municipalities where conflicts manifesting in the involvement of decision-makers in administrative procedures related to the location of wind farms was overestimated.
Actually, such conflicts occurred in 18.4 percent of audited municipalities rather than 30 percent quoted by the SAO.