"Windmill" law amended

The Parliament passed a resolution amending the previous law on the rules for installing wind turbines.

Under the new regulations, wind turbines will be allowed to be erected at a minimum distance of 700 meters from built-up areas, subject to additional requirements.

The use of a distance less than 10 times the height of the windmill is to be determined by the result of the Strategic Environmental (Impact) Assessment (SEA) conducted as part of the Local Spatial Development Plan. The assessment will take into account the impact of noise emissions on the surrounding area and the health of residents. Local authorities will not be able to waive the performance of the SEA for the draft Local Spatial Development Plan. The amended law assumes, also, the reservation of 10% of the installed wind turbine capacity for local residents, who would use the produced energy on a virtual prosumer basis. Each resident of the commune where the windmill will stand will be able to take a share of no more than 2 kW and receive electricity at a price resulting from the calculation of the maximum cost of construction. The adopted resolution also lifts the ban on the construction of buildings in the vicinity of existing turbines. Minimum distances from power transmission lines were introduced, where a distance of 3 times the diameter of the rotor with blades and 2 times the height of the windmill from the highest voltage network was specified. It is prohibited to build wind turbines at a distance of less than 10H from forms of nature protection - national and landscape parks, sanctuaries, Natura 2000 areas. Let us just remind you that the aforesaid law does not apply to micro-installations, i.e. installations whose installed generator power does not exceed 50 kWe.