Proposed easing of wind farm development restrictions in Poland

The Ministry of Climate and Environment's proposed amendment to the Wind Farm Investment Act aims to reduce the minimum distance between onshore wind farms and residential buildings to 500 metres while introducing additional measures to liberalise the development rules for such installations.

Key distance changes proposed in the amendment

The proposed amendment abolishes the 10H rule (i.e., the rule that the minimum distance between a wind farm and residential buildings must be at least ten times the height of the turbine) and introduces specific minimum distance values, namely:

• 500 metres between wind farms and residential buildings (compared to the current default 10H rule or 700 metres if so approved by a local government);
• 1500 metres between wind farms and national parks (compared to the current 10H rule).

The prohibition on developing wind farms in national parks, nature reserves, landscape parks, and Natura 2000 areas is to remain in force.

Changes to zoning regulations

The amendment aims to streamline the process of adopting local zoning regulations by specifying the rules on public participation and providing that local spatial development plans must include specific limitations on the size, number and location of wind farms.

In addition, if the distance of 500 metres from a wind farm extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality in which the wind farm is to be located, a local spatial development plan should also be drawn up by the neighbouring municipality, at least for the area within its territory that falls within this distance. This cooperation requirement may negatively impact the timing of adopting new local spatial development plans.

Other key changes in the RES sector

The amendment also includes a number of other changes in the Polish RES sector, such as introducing a new auction support scheme for biomethane installations with installed capacity greater than 1 MW and clarifying the rules for aggregating the capacity of energy storage facilities with micro-installations.

Initial assessment and next steps

The proposed amendment is expected to have a good impact on the development of wind farms in Poland. By reducing the minimum distance requirement between wind farms and residential buildings from the stringent 10H rule to a more manageable 500 metres, the amendment aims to make it easier for developers to find suitable locations for new wind farm projects.

The proposed amendment is currently in the initial public negotiations stage and is expected to be introduced in the Polish parliament later this year.