Unanimous support for liberalisation of the Distance Act was expressed during the last session of the parliamentary Renewable Energy Group. It is a historic moment — all political parties, above political divisions, declare their support for liberalisation of the 10 H rule, providing a single message: to have onshore wind blow again, to give Polish entrepreneurs access to inexpensive electricity and to allow Polish citizens to breathe clean air.

Issues crucial to onshore wind development in Poland, including the so-called Distance Act, were discussed on Thursday during the session of the parliamentary Renewable Energy Group, attended personally by Prime Minister Morawiecki and Minister for Climate and Environment.

“Discussions within our political camp concerning the 10 H Act have ended. I may undertake that the act will be discussed more rapidly than before. I believe we will move further very fast,” said Mateusz Morawiecki during the session. “The next few months will be a good time for renewable energy. We will strive to develop it strongly,” Prime Minister added.

The 10 H Act in question drew significant attention during the session, for each political party present voted for immediate liberalisation of the principle blocking onshore wind farm development. It has been long known that the Act is one of the 37 milestones that must be achieved by Poland to launch funds under the National Recovery Plan.

“We can bring new quality to onshore wind. Therefore, we cannot understand why a compromise draft unleashing the potential of wind energy has not been discussed by the Sejm for five months. Bearing in mind the great public support and the needs of industry and local governments, we have the money from the investments at hand. Looking at great demand for electricity in the Polish power system, onshore wind farms may secure easily available energy already in 2–3 years,” said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association.

Minister for Climate and Environment, Anna Moskwa, emphasized the importance of local communities in the procedure leading to the amendment of the Act. “The 10 H Act truly has undergone long development, in a good compromise both with investors and local governments. Our main aim is not to discuss whether the distance will be 500 m, but to empower local communities, hence the extensive consultations. We also receive requests for better consideration of public interest, therefore the proposal to implement so-called “virtual self-consumer” in the act to have local communities receive a percent of produced electricity.

Leader of the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz clearly indicated that his party can vote “for” the governmental act regarding onshore wind.

Chairman of the team, Mieczysław Kasprzak (PSL) emphasized the need for a regular dialogue on the development of renewable energy sources. “We all seek to find solutions for a less expensive electricity, less expensive energy for the people. Today we have drawn the situation with respect to RES, na outlook for the industry and customers. Now its time to act. We expect the green energy sector to accelerate,” Mieczysław Kasprzak emphasized.

Issues related to connection grids and the need for their extension and modernisation was also discussed during the session. “Everything related to acceleration of investments in renewable energy not related to the need to remove obstacles in transmission grids and to add generation capacity to the conventional power sector will be expedited,” the Prime Minister announced. He also declared an update to EPP2040 within the next two-three months.