(Montel) Poland faces up to EUR 1.5bn in extra power costs to 2030 if it keeps the distance rule blocking onshore wind development, think tank Aurora said in a report released on Wednesday.
Scrapping the distance rule – which was introduced in 2016 and forbids the construction of turbines up to 1.5 kilometres from homes – would unlock 27 GW of new cheap onshore wind power, Germany’s energy think tank Aurora Energy Research added in a report commissioned by London-based environmental law firm ClientEarth.
Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki had pledged to change the rule by mid-2021 but its draft law remains on hold as it lacks enough support within the ruling Law and Justice party.
The report’s authors analysed the time period from 2026-2030 and found that during that period, Poland would lose PLN 6-7bn (EUR 1.3-1.5bn) amid higher power prices, Aurora analysts Filip Piasecki and Rafal Macuk wrote.
Blocking new projects
If the ban was lifted, Poland’s onshore wind fleet could triple to 23.7 GW by the end of the decade. Each year of delay lowers the capacity by 1.5 GW as it takes time to develop new projects.
Poland’s onshore wind capacity stands at 7.5 GW and will increase by 3.5 GW by 2025. However, further builds have been blocked by the distance rule, Aurora said.
Poland faces a power squeeze from 2025 and should lift the barriers for onshore wind also to avoid undersupply, an analyst of London-based think-tank Ember Pawel Czyzak said last week.
The country is reliant on coal for 80% of power consumed but plans to more than double its renewables fleet to 50 GW by 2030.
Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki had pledged to change the rule by mid-2021 but its draft law remains on hold as it lacks enough support within the ruling Law and Justice party.
The report’s authors analysed the time period from 2026-2030 and found that during that period, Poland would lose PLN 6-7bn (EUR 1.3-1.5bn) amid higher power prices, Aurora analysts Filip Piasecki and Rafal Macuk wrote.
Blocking new projects
If the ban was lifted, Poland’s onshore wind fleet could triple to 23.7 GW by the end of the decade. Each year of delay lowers the capacity by 1.5 GW as it takes time to develop new projects.
Poland’s onshore wind capacity stands at 7.5 GW and will increase by 3.5 GW by 2025. However, further builds have been blocked by the distance rule, Aurora said.
Poland faces a power squeeze from 2025 and should lift the barriers for onshore wind also to avoid undersupply, an analyst of London-based think-tank Ember Pawel Czyzak said last week.
The country is reliant on coal for 80% of power consumed but plans to more than double its renewables fleet to 50 GW by 2030.
