The debate organised by the President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski gathered representatives of the legislative and executive powers, local government officials, environmentalists and entrepreneurs dealing with the wind power industry development. One of the meeting participants was Krzysztof Kwiatkowski.
NIK President presented the results of the recent audit on wind farms. According to NIK the construction of wind farms was often accompanied by a conflict of interests, non-transparency and corruption threat. Unclear provisions of law as well as inconsistent doctrine and jurisdiction did not provide sufficient guarantee that wind farms would be erected in an environment-friendly manner, convenient for people living nearby. As a consequence, wind power stations were installed too close to human settlements or on high-quality agricultural land. It also happened that they were built on protected areas.
The audit results were widely commented on in the media. NIK requested that the President of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Environment take a number of legislative initiatives to order the law on wind farms. ”We are not against development of wind power industry in Poland but we want it to be based on transparent rules” - Krzysztof Kwiatkowski summed up NIK’s report.
More on audit results and NIK’s recommendations on wind farms >>>
Piotr Całbecki, Marshal of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province talked about issues and experiences with renewable energy sources and landscape protection. ”In reality it's only municipalities that determine location of new wind farms. There's not much province governments can do in this matter.” - he argued. According to some debate participants only planning at the province level may prevent disorder and mistakes. But this change will require some amendments to the effective law.
At the same time Piotr Otawski, Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Environment pointed to difficulties with the protection of particularly valuable landscapes. The companies installing wind farms boast that they are the only ones to carry out the landscape audit. Such audits - showing the impact of wind farms on the environment - are a good practice but they are conducted sporadically, despite much assurance of the sector.
Other debate participants were, among others: Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government and State Administration Janusz Sepioł, Governor of Opole Province Ryszard Wilczyński, Director General for Environment Protection Michał Kiełsznia, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association Wojciech Centarski and Krzysztof Worobiec from the Association for the Protection of Mazuria’s Cultural Landscape Sadyba. The meeting at the President of Poland’s was held as part of the Public Debate Forum: ”The potential of rural areas as a chance for development”. The debate was led by Olgierd Dziekoński.
