Poland is to amend the 10-H distance law for onshore wind projects in the first half of this year, the country's development minister Jadwiga Emilewicz said Thursday.
The law has frozen new wind development since it was applied in July 2016. It requires all new onshore wind projects to be located at least 10 times blade tip height away from residential buildings and protected areas.
"We are reviewing the best practices that are binding in the EU," Emilewicz told reporters. She said her ministry wants to "liberalize (the distance law), but with the very strong consideration of the voice of local communities in the decision-making process."
Emilewicz said the new regulations would be prepared in the first half of this year. "We will broadly consult it socially. We would like the new law to take effect from January 1, 2021," she said.
Only projects that had already applied for a construction permit by July 2016 were exempt from the rule.
"This provision has not only blocked the development of wind power, but also made it difficult to carry out spatial planning for residential housing in municipalities," Poland's Wind Energy Association said in December.
Poland's installed onshore wind capacity grew from 83 MW in 2005 to 5,807 MW in 2016.
Following the introduction of the 10-H regulation, wind capacity has increased by just 74 MW to 5,881 MW.
Since the Law and Justice government's re-election in October last year, the government has taken a more favorable approach to renewables.
It is in the process of appointing a renewable energy adviser and has shut down the energy ministry and handed over responsibility for energy policy (apart from mining) to a newly created climate ministry.
Emilewicz, who belongs to a small, more centrist party of the governing coalition and is widely seen as being a supporter of green energy, has been given responsibility for construction regulations, enabling her to change the 10-H regulation.
