“President Andrzej Duda signed the wind power plant act”, informed Minister Małgorzata Paprocka from the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
The original government draft amendment to the Act on Investments in Wind Energy provided for setting the minimum distance of a wind turbine from buildings at 500 m, acceptable under certain conditions. In the Sejm, this figure was raised to 700 m, but the Senate submitted an amendment restoring 500 m.
The amendment to the Act of 2016 in its current form provides that new wind turbines may be located only on the basis of the Local Spatial Development Plan (LSDP). The basis for determining the minimum distance – between 10 times the maximum height of the turbine (rule 10H) and 700 m for residential buildings – will be e.g. results of the strategic environmental impact assessment (SEA) carried out under the MPZP. The SEA analyzes, among others: the impact of noise emissions on the environment and the health of residents. The commune authorities will not be able to withdraw from the SEA for the LZP project, which includes a wind farm.
The Act also introduces minimum distances between wind turbines and electricity transmission lines. At the same time, it completely abolishes the ban on the construction of residential buildings near existing wind turbines.