The government first demolished the wind turbine act, increasing the minimum distance from 500 to 700 metres at a very last moment. Now, an idea of a referendum for municipalities willing to build wind turbines closer, between 500 and 700 metres from development, appeared. Experts call it a “fiction” — referenda are expensive and inefficient. This harms less wealthy municipalities that simply cannot afford a referendum. Moreover, there is also the issue of legitimacy. In recent years only 17% of municipal referenda carried out in Poland were valid. Implementation of the solution would further thwart the opportunity to unblock onshore wind energy development in Poland.

Prime Minister, asked about wind energy, assured that it is important for energy independence and lower electricity costs. “I often say: we do not want to pay a lot for Norwegian or Quatar gas, Colombian coal and Middle East oil. Renewable energy sources are in our best interest,” said Mateusz Morawiecki in an interview for Interia.

At the same time, just before the next session of the Sejm, an attempt to liberalise a last-minute amendment increasing the minimum distance to 700 metres appeared. A solution is to be a voluntary referendum for municipalities that want to have wind turbines between 500 and 700 metres from development. This is a clear discrimination of the wind energy industry, for the proposal does not solve the problem in any way, experts say. They stress that 200 metres difference in the minimum distance for wind turbine construction is of crucial importance.

“The departure from the 500 m principle results in a substantial decrease of investment opportunities for new wind sources. A change to 700 m decreases the wind energy potential by half, and continues to preclude certain provinces from development of new wind energy projects,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.

Adoption of the variant will result in no more than 4 GW of new wind capacity built by 2030. On the other hand, implementation of the 500 m distance originally proposed by the government would allow for the construction of as much as more than 10 GW of new onshore wind capacity, resulting in doubling the Polish onshore capacity, an analysis by Ember demonstrates.

A Fictional Referendum

Polish municipalities await new wind energy investments, for they entail a number of financial and social benefits. Therefore, the wind energy industry is certain of the result of possible local polls.

 “We know that Polish citizens accept and support the development of this renewable energy sources technology. Social awareness of and acceptance for such facilities among local communities is continuously increasing. This is proven by the results of many polls, showing more than 80% support for onshore wind. The problem is that referenda are a huge barrier — they are expensive and inefficient. It is a grief that after many concessions and compromises of the industry and investors the blow now hit those who could benefit most on the development of onshore wind — local governments and communities,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.

Voluntary referenda will be just a fictional attempt to remedy the damages caused by the 700 metre amendment. Organisation thereof requires substantial effort and costs for the budget of a local government unit. This will cause a loss for the least wealthy municipalities awaiting new wind energy investments in their vicinity, which simply cannot afford to organise such a referendum, with millions of PLN in taxes being lost.

Moreover, this is an open discrimination: no other investments in Poland, related to renewable energy sources or line projects (such as motorways, high voltage power lines, oil pipelines, railroads), nuclear power, the Central Communication Port or waste incinerators that cause substantial effects require a local referendum. Not to mention that wind turbines have to be included in a local spatial development plan, a document broadly consulted in every municipality.