Since the beginning of the year a conflict over an onshore wind farm in the village of Wyczechowo in the Kashubia region has been brewing. The so-called proximity act and challenges posed by the need to reconcile the interests of the local community, local government and the investor are a backdrop to this dispute. Patrycja Rapacka and Mariusz Marszałkowski, editors at BiznesAlert.pl, decided to take a closer look at this issue and ask about the future of the proximity act. Onshore wind energy is facing a number of challenges including the so-called 10H rule, as well as the conflicts around onshore wind farms – write Patrycja Rapacka and Mariusz Marszałkowski, editors of BiznesAlert.pl.
What is the problem?
Actually, the conflict caused by the construction of a wind farm in the village of Wyczechowo (Somonino commune) started back in 2019. The residents of the neighboring village of Kiełpino in the Kartuzy commune became concerned when they noticed a trend in refusals with regard to land development conditions in Kiełpino. It turned out that in the neighboring village, which lies in a different commune, there is a plan to construct a wind farm. The investor is Nowa Energia Wyczechowo where Max Bögl Polska is a shareholder. The first attempts at building a wind power plant in Wyczechowo were made back in 2007. The then investor started to apply for all the permits necessary to complete the construction. All permissions, including a construction permit from the staroste of Kartuzy were granted before 9 may 2013. The decision on environmental conditions from 27 April 2012 was issued by the mayor of the Somonino commune. Whereas the decision to grant a construction permit was issued by the Kartuzy staroste on 9 May 2013. This decision pertains to the construction of a wind farm that includes 12 Vestas V112 3.0 MW turbines, each 140 m high (tower height). However, since the permit had been issued the farm’s concept has changed. So, a new decision that changed the previous one was issued on 14 April 2016to allow the construction 12 2.2. MW turbines, each 190 meters high. In the meantime the main shareholder of the Nowa Energa Wyczechowo changed twice, which also impacted the design of the project. In 2019 the current investor made another application to update the permit issued by the Kartuzy staroste. This time it was about changing the type of turbines and increasing their height to almost 200 m. On 26 February 2020 mayor of the Somonino commune revealed that Nowa Energia Wyczechowo submitted an application to change the installation design with regard to the 12 Vensys turbines, which are 136 and 132 meters high and have an installed capacity of up to 3 MW to turbines 180 m and 199 meters high. At this point the local inhabitants, mostly from the neighboring commune of Kartuzy, raised their objections forcefully.
In the meantime, apart from acquiring administrative permits, the investor started the process of acquiring permits from the inhabitants of Wyczechowo and Borcza (the power plant is to be located mainly in Wyczechowo, but a few turbines are to be in the village of Borcz) to locate the turbines in their lots. According to documents acquired by BiznesAlert.pl those who agreed for the turbines to be set up on their property, were to earn 1.5% of the value of power generated by the turbine, but not less than EUR 6 thousand a year. The lease for the plot was to last 30 years.
This is where one of the issues related to the so-called proximity act that entered into force in July 2016 came to the surface. The document (article 4, paragraph 1, point 2 of the Act on investments in wind power plants from 20 May 2016), says that wind farms need to maintain a distance of not less than ten times the height of a turbine from residential buildings and forms of environmental protection, such as nature reserves and national parks. Unfortunately, the detrimental impact of this rule, which makes it impossible to build residential buildings near wind turbines, and thus puts limitations on the people who live in the vicinity of wind turbines, is rarely mentioned. The zone in which the 10H rule is binding encompasses the neighboring village of Kiełpino. The investor acquired a permit before the Act entered into law, so the construction is in line with the law. If a spatial development plan has been approved for a given plot and if that plan provides for the construction of single-family housing, it is possible to acquire a permit to construct a single-family residential building or a mixed-purpose building with housing space. The decisions on land development and on single-family housing development acquired by the owners before 16 July 2016 are still in force and it is possible to acquire a construction permit on their basis. Mayor of the Somonino commune informed on 26 February 2020 that „in case of real estate located 2 km away from the planned power plant, where the local spatial development plan that provides for housing development is not binding, or where such a plan has not been adopted for a given plot, the mayor of the Somonino commune and the Somonino Commune Council are planning to adopt local spatial development plans by July 2022.” The plans pertain to the Somonino commune, but what about the inhabitants of the Kartuzy commune?
Social conflict
Residents of Kiełpino led by the Association of Kiełpino Residentsare fighting to stop the construction of the farm. They argue that none of the parties involved asked them about their opinion on the construction of the wind farm near their village. The Association claims that the power plant will have a negative impact not only on the development of new housing in their village, but also on the surroundings, which may cease to be attractive to tourists and on the property that will lose value because of the wind farm. The inhabitants’ biggest concern is the economic development of the area they live in. The farm will be built in the vicinity of the Radunia river and the Radunia River Ravine, which is part of the Nature 2000 network (Click hereto see the Association’s map, which roughly presents the farm’s impact). The locals are also concerned about the farm’s impact on their health. The Association’s biggest goal is to remove the wind farm from the spatial development plan of the Somonino commune.
BiznesAlert.pl talked to the Association’s representatives – Irena Flisikowska and Bartosz Kitowski who argued that none of the parties talked to the Kiełpino inhabitants during the administrative proceeding. „Actually, we found out about the whole thing by accident. At the end of last year we received news from the inhabitants of Kiełpino who were refused construction permits. We learned the refusals were caused by legal issues related to the construction of the wind turbine farm in Wyczechowo,” Bartosz Kitowski said in an interview with BiznesAlert.pl.
„Our houses are 700-800 meters away from the farm, but because we do not live in Wyczechowo nobody consulted with us anything,” he added. Our interlocutors stressed the location of the wind farm would have a negative impact on tourism and the location’s urban development. „Kiełpino has over four thousand residents. This village is developing constantly and new buildings are added all the time. The limitations caused by the construction of the wind farm will impact the place’s development,” Flisikowska explained.
The local opposition to the wind farm is mostly fuelled by concerns about health and aesthetics. „Wind turbines that are almost 200 meters high are to be set up right next to our houses on the south side. This means that in reality during the better part of the day we will be affected by the flicker effect caused by the turning blades. Additionally, the impact of the wind turbines on, e.g. infrasound emission remains unknown. I moved out from a busy and noisy town to the countryside to live in peace and in a moment I will have 12 wind turbines, right outside my window,” Flisikowska said. The Association for Kiełpin immediately took steps to stop the construction and revoke the administrative decisions that allowed the farm to be located in Wyczechowo.
The residents of the communes of Kartuzy and Somonino sent over a hundred applications challenging the Kartuzy staroste’s construction permit, as well as applications to change the development plans of the Somonino commune by scrapping the planned power plant. The residents’ main argument was the fact that the wind farm construction did not start within the required deadline included in the permit, i.e. within three years from the moment the permit entered into force. In the residents’ opinion, no construction works for the power plant started, which means the permit was not valid.
„In 2013 the investor received a construction permit valid for three years. It’s 2020 and the farms are still not here. The only construction work by the investor that was entered into the construction log was the demarcation of the axis of a road for one of the turbines. That is all that has been done in almost seven years. In our opinion, those actions were taken to pretend construction was taking place and had nothing to do with real construction works. Our association has photo documentation from the alleged construction site, which clearly shows that during the past 7 years no other works took place,” our interlocutor added.
Mateusz Cichosz who is a resident of the village of Kiełpino also made a very important point. „Kiełpino borders the Kashubian Landscape Park. Two kilometers away from the planned wind farm is the Radunia Ravine. It is a unique forest area with wildlife and rare plant species. It is a pristine place where humans should not interfere. The construction of a wind farm in such a place may have a negative impact on nature, which, as locals, we are very concerned about,” Cichosz said in a conversation with us.
„I would also like to stress that the majority of Kiełpino’s residents are definitely not against wind farms. However, the location of such installations needs to be in line with certain rules and legal frameworks. This area has an agricultural and tourist character and it would be great if it stayed that way,” Cichosz added.
The residents of Wyczechowo also forgot that a wind farm was supposed to have been built in their village. „At the beginning of June strange things started to take place on the location, which surprised the residents,” an anonymous inhabitant of Wyczechowo told us. „Information boards about the construction appeared and markers were placed on the roads. The people, especially those who have moved into the village only recently, wondered why the works picked up,” a resident of Wyczechowo told us.
Authorities react
At the end of December and beginning of January 2020 residents of a few villages in the Kartuzy commune started to flood the Kartuzy staroste with applications to withdraw the construction permit. They sent about 350 applications out of which 250 were deemed parties to the proceeding. On 26 February 2020, the Kartuzy staroste refused to repeal the decision from 9 May 2013 to issue a permit for the construction of a wind farm in Wyczechowo. The investor’s 2019 application to change the construction permit and the application to reconsider the issued permit were forwarded to the Pomeranian voivodship marshall.
BiznesAlert.pl asked the parties engaged in the dispute for comments. One of the parties are the local authorities of the Kartuzy and Somonino communes, kartuski poviat and the Pomeranian voivodship marshall. According to Mieczysław Gołuński, mayor of the Kartuzy commune, in 2010 his office received an application to issue an opinion on the spatial development plan of the Somonino commune, but the then mayor did not offer any comments about the plan. In a written response to us, the mayor pointed out that the commune did not have any further information on the construction of the wind farm from the Somonino commune or the investor. According to the mayor, the commune authorities decided to adopt five resolutions, which will impact the local spatial development plan in parts of Kiełpino and Mezowo, i.e. locations covered by the proximity act, to make it possible for the residents to get construction permits. The mayor also stressed that in the past legal circumstances, i.e. when all the environmental and construction permits were being acquired, there were no obstacles to building the wind farms in direct proximity to the buildings.
The Somonino commune, where the wind farm is to be located, informed BiznesAlert.pl that the commune and the investor followed all the rules on social consultations before the permits were applied for. According to their written response, on 30 September 2019 the investor held a meeting with the residents of Wyczechowo. The commune itself also wants to adopt a new spatial development plan, which will allow the residents construction on plots that are located at a distance shorter than the height of the wind turbines multiplied by ten. The authorities of Somonina are also not planning to change the spatial development plans that pertain to the location of the wind farms because „the current Act on investments in wind power plants bans the location of a new wind power plant because of the necessity to maintain the necessary distance from a residential area.”
The deputy staroste of the Kartuzy poviat, Piotr Fikus told BiznesAlert.pl that the staroste office handed over to the marshall of the Pomerania voivodship the residents’ applications to stop the construction permit for the wind farm in Wyczechowo. The staroste office believes it cannot make a decision on the case, which is why the marshall should handle it. The deputy also pointed out that the startoste office, as an authority superior to communes, did not want to cause any conflicts between the authorities of the Somonino and Kartuzy communes.
The Pomeranian voivodship marshall wrote in a letter to us that on 25 March 2020 the Kartuzy staroste office asked him to consider the appeal against the staroste’s decision from 26 February 2020 where he refused to suspend the decision to grant a construction permit from 9 May 2013, updated by the decision from 14 April 2016 that awarded the permit to construct a wind farm in Wyczechowo. On 28 May 2020 the marshall repealed the staroste’s decision claiming it was issued by an incorrect authority. Therefore, the marshall decided the staroste’s decision to repeal the decision on the construction permit was invalid. In his opinion the marshall’s office was the correct appeal body in this case. According to the information we received, the construction surveillance authorities conducted an on-site verification of the construction site as late as on the 6th of June, because of the pandemic and social distancing rules. In his letter, the marshall stressed that the investment was taking place on a location for which there is a spatial development plant for these types of investments and added that the mayor of the Somonino commune issued a decision on the environmental conditions that need to be met, so that an investment could be pursued in that location.
Investor: currently we are working hard on constructing the wind farm
We asked Nowa Energia Wyczechowo for a statement on the construction’s stage. „It took almost ten years to prepare the Wyczechowo wind farm for construction. Certainly, after the permit was granted there were not enough human and financial resources to complete the project. This changed at the end of 2018, when the project company was taken over by an experienced construction company Max Bögl, which enabled the project to be successfully pursued,” Grzegorz Kopeć, proxy for Nowa Energia Wyczechowo which is part of the Max Bögl group, said in response to our questions. The investor argues that from that moment on, the project has been undergoing an optimization with regard to technology, economy and most of all environmental protection. It is being implemented by a company called Max Bögl and engineering staff. All works are being pursued as part of the construction permit, in line with the requirements included in the local spatial development plans and environmental decisions issued for this project.
Kopeć also said that during the process of acquiring the environmental decision for the investment, the company conducted an extensive and comprehensive audit of the project’s impact on the environment; its results were published in a „Report on the environmental impact of the wind power plant in the village of Wyczechowo”. On this basis and the conducted research, the planned wind farm will not only meet, but in some instances surpass all the requirements in the binding decisions and binding local development plans issued for the farm.
The investor ensured that it would use state-of-the-art wind turbines, which thanks to their advanced technology guarantee large outputs and will meet the requirements pertaining to emissions. It also stressed that the planned turbines are a lot quieter than the requirements in the environmental impact conditions. Additionally, they are equipped with smart control systems to minimize shadow casting, systems that identify ice and other features such as exemplary reliability and ease of use. A special mast that is used to calculate the wind force designed for the location in question was erected at the end of the previous year. Research confirmed the location had sufficient wind speeds.
In order to increase the acceptance for the wind farm in the area the company is considering installing night signage. Kopeć explained that the blinking red lights of the wind farm, which are often perceived as an inconvenience, will be turned off at night, but when a plane approaches they will be turned on. „However, in order to apply this solution we need to acquire official permits,” the investor stressed. The representative of Nowa Energia Wyczechowo also stated that if this idea was approved by the officials, the wind farm in Wyczechowo would be a precursor of a good practice when it comes to avoiding unnecessary burdens on the environment and would become an example for future wind farms in Poland. „In other European countries the issue of installing night lights that turn on in case there is a need is now being discussed, or it has already become in part a binding requirement when permits are issued,” the investor explained.
Kopeć also said that his company would like to enter into a dialogue with local residents and businesses, and once the wind farm is up and running offer to all residents of adjacent communes the possibility of preferential, financial participation in the wind farm in the form of a civic energy company. „This local factor will make it possible for land owners, residents, local businessmen and communes to directly participate in the benefits of the energy transition in Poland,” Kopeć explained. According to the investor, thanks to the construction of the farm the Somonino commune will benefit from Max Bögl company’s knowledge. Owning to the technical optimization of the power plant, the commune will receive over PLN 800 thousand of tax money every year, which in the next 25-30 years may constitute an important part of its budget.
„We are also considering other ideas to cooperate with the Somonino commune, including decentralized energy storage in cooperation with regional network operators, as well as establishing a training center for eco-friendly agriculture and renewable energy sources in cooperation with local businesses,” the investor elaborated. Our interlocutor also told us that in December 2019 the project won a renewable energy sources auction. „Currently we are working hard on its further implementation,” Kopeć added. He also argued that the Wyczechowo wind farm will significantly contribute to protecting the environment, because during the energy generation process there will be no CO2 emissions, which is harmful to the climate. He also explained that Max Bögl, as a huge family enterprise active on the international arena and one that has been present in Poland for years, created its own brand when it comes to renewable energy sources, especially when it comes to wind energy, thanks to designing and producing its own systems of hybrid towers and technologies for storing energy. „Our company is actively looking for innovative solutions to introduce the global energy transition with the usage of smart grids, hybrid power plants, etc. Additionally our project team at Max Bögl designs wind farms in different countries, builds them in cooperation with local businesses and operates them with the participation of local specialists, which is exactly the case of the Wyczechowo project,” he pointed out.
Impact of the proximity act
The example of the wind farm in Wyczechowo shows that companies that want to build onshore wind farms that had received permits before the proximity act and the 10H rule entered into force, have to take into consideration opposition from the local community if the people are not convinced to investments of this type. According to these regulations, residents cannot build houses in an area where there is no spatial development plan. 10H is also bad for investors. The Polish Wind Energy Association (PSEW) has also criticized these regulations. The organization’s spokesperson Aneta Wieczerzak-Krusińska claims that in practice the proximity act stunted the growth of the wind energy sector, which until then had been developing more dynamically than other kinds of renewable energy. „During the three years after the so-called 10H rule was introduced, the increase in new RES capacities in Poland was symbolic, which put into question our EU commitments for a long time,” Wieczerzak-Krusińska said. According to PSEW, the restrictive law stopped many wind investments that were at different stages of development, and which guaranteed 4100 MW in total. „These projects already had the connection conditions to the grid, but were at very early stages of development. In the identified group we found 3400 MW in wind projects that had already signed connection agreements, which increased their chances of actually being implemented. According to PSEW’s estimates, excluding the 3400 MW from the market deprived the affected communes of about PLN 120 million a year in property tax revenue (almost PLN 3 billion during a 25-year lifespan of the power plants). The losses of leaseholders also exceed PLN 100 million a year and reach PLN 2.55 billion during the power plant’s lifespan,” the spokesperson stated. In PSEW’s view the 10H rule contributed to making the communes and local communities poorer, and also exacerbated the chaos in development planning in the areas that already had wind farms. These communes were practically deprived of the ability to attract any investors, including those that operate on the real estate market. Whereas owners of plots near wind farms could not freely manage their property by, e.g. developing buildings there, after the interim regulations expired.
In response to BiznesAlert.pl’s questions, the Ministry of Climate’s press office said that the Act on investing in wind farms from 20 May 2016 (the proximity act – ed.), was proposed by a group of parliament members. The justification for the bill said that it was drafted in response to the fact that the legal framework for locating, constructing and exploiting wind power plants lacked sufficient details. Because of these legal shortcomings, such installations were located too close to residential buildings. This was the cause of numerous conflicts between dissatisfied residents and local authorities. The act introduced, apart from the widely commented on 10H rule, the requirement to locate wind farms on the basis of local spatial development plans. Therefore, it organized the location of wind power plants, which before could be built also on the basis of a decision on a development plan. The process of drafting such decisions does not require such wide consultations as the adopting of spatial development plans. In the ministry’s opinion the regulations of the Act on investing in wind power plants are effective at protecting the interests of local communities. Among others, the ministry registered a drop in the number of complaints issued to the minister relevant to energy-related issues, about investments of this type. „At the same time it needs to be acknowledged that in some communes the implementation of the Act’s regulations constitutes a challenge in the context of the necessity to adopt or update a local spatial development plan,” the ministry admitted.
Is there a chance the proximity act will be liberalized?
The proponents of liberalizing the proximity act argue that it would be a way out of the stalemate. Aneta Wieczerzak-Krusińska claims that liberalizing the law would make it possible to complete those investments which were suspended, and encourage new projects. „Unblocking the 10H rule will free the industry from a „technological trap”, which makes it impossible to use new generation turbines in projects that are currently pursued (because of 2018 and 2019 auctions), as well as conduct comprehensive modernizations of existing wind farms, that will be necessary in the future,” she explains.
Michał Tarka, lawyer at SMM Legal law firm, told BiznesAlert.pl that it was necessary to liberalize the proximity act. However, he also stressed the amendments „had to be prepared very carefully to fulfill the requirements of basic standards of modern legislation for infrastructural investments, that are socially difficult, such as, among others, large onshore wind farms”. „These standards have evolved in many countries, including Poland where they are currently evolving in the direction of organizing the processes for acquiring social acceptance, design and sustainable implementation,” Tarka explained. „In Poland we need two key legislative standards: advanced tools for acquiring public consent, and legal guarantees for the community affected that it will be able to take part in decision making on locating the power plant, as well as a compensation fund that will wisely distribute the benefits between investors and residents affected by the neighboring wind power plant. I hope that thanks to the planned amendment to the act, it will be possible to implement such solutions and thus launch new onshore wind projects,” our interlocutor concluded.
Already in 2019 there have been signs that a liberalization of the proximity act was possible. We asked the Ministry of Development on progress in this matter. The ministry’s press office replied that the plans on changing the so-called 10H rule were still valid. „The Ministry of Development is working on a draft bill. Its goal is to make it easier to build onshore wind power plants, which are important for ensuring stable, clean and cheap power for households and economies in communes, which are eager to locate such infrastructure, provided a maximum security is ensured and full information on the planned investment is available to the residents of the impacted areas,” the answer says.
We also asked the ministry about the impact of the 10H rule, and whether the current regulations are successful at protecting the interests of local communities in the process of locating and constructing onshore wind power plants. We also asked about research on the impact of wind power plants and how the ministry was planning to protect the interests of the society if the liberalization enters into force. We did not receive any answers to these questions. We sent similar questions to the Ministry of Climate, which informed us it did not have its own research on wind farms’ impact on local communities, or on the health of the people who live in their vicinity. The ministry also confirmed it never had and was not planning to pursue such research anytime soon. In the opinion of the Climate Ministry, the regulations on onshore wind energy should answer to the needs of investors, authorities, local communities and ensure sustainable development of onshore wind energy. Because of the purpose of the investment, it is necessary to engage all interested parties in a dialogue to generate new solutions to this issue.
Will a liberalization be enough?
It seems that the problem of investing in onshore may persist even after the proximity act will be liberalized. This is because of conflicts between investors, residents and local authorities in various combinations. Aneta Wieczerzak-Krusińska from PSEW believed that changing the approach to the distance requirement that will be made in the spirit of giving the decision-making powers to local authorities and communities, should increase the acceptance for projects pursued in a given area. The authorities of communes, together with the residents should decide whether the local spatial development plan should include the possibility of constructing wind farms.
PSEW’s spokesperson also argued that social consultations and investor dialogue with representatives of local authorities and communities from the earliest stages of investments are key to its success. „As part of this dialogue, the local community should have access to, on the one hand information on the duties and responsibilities of the investor at every stage of the project and, on the other, reliable expertise on the impact of wind power plants on the environment and surroundings. The improvement of social acceptance to investments, including investments in wind farms, is also impacted by the ability to share the benefits with as large a group of potential beneficiaries in the commune as possible. A formula for this kind of social participation could be designed as a kind of a contract or agreement between the investors and the local community at the stage of social consultations. „The Good Practices Code for Wind Energy drafted by PSEW in 2019 includes examples of such participation,” says Aneta Wieczerzak-Krusińska.
What should the investor and the local authorities take care of to prevent social conflicts? According to PSEW, balancing the interests of communes and their residents is not a problem, but a challenge that the majority of investors are able to meet. „The duty of the investor, or its representative is to be in regular contact with the local community to, among others, explain all doubts and solve any problems during the farm’s exploitation. The investor also has to be in regular contact with local authorities. Whereas the local government should inform the residents on an ongoing basis on investments in infrastructure (e.g. roads and public utilities infrastructure), which were co-sponsored with property tax revenue from wind farms,” PSEW spokesperson explained. „If the investor decides to sign a kind of an agreement to additionally share benefits with the local community, the parties should agree on a list and scope of such initiatives at the stage of local consultations,” she added.
What tools can a citizen use if they don’t agree on a construction of a wind farm in an area where they live? We asked Michał Tarka about this, who said that the legal tools that were available today did not work in practice when it came to these kinds of investments. „The Supreme Audit Office and NGOs engaged in the process claim that investors and local authorities were often successful at avoiding dialogue and were against citizens’ engagement in the investment process and often disregarded their voice and justified concerns. The guarantees on the participation of local residents should finally be introduced into law and enforced. Without these changes citizens will not be allowed to participate in the decision process that pertains to their own lives, and it will be more difficult to ensure social acceptance. Therefore, this regulation will be crucial because nobody wants conflicts to escalate again or return to another discussion on the so-called anti-wind bill,” Tarka explains.
What should the investors pay attention to if they want to avoid such situations? Tarka explained that the existing formula for social consultations that are typical of environmental or planning procedures and pertain to large and difficult investments in energy, was ineffective and insufficient as it was unable to achieve its purpose. „The level of interference into the lives of local communities when it comes to such investments turned out a lot bigger than expected. Now is the time to update this law to match the actual needs. It is necessary to engage in a social dialogue and to provide legal guarantees for residents to win their approval at the earliest possible stage of project planning. We also need compensatory measures. Investors should include this process and funds in the investment schedule and costs. Responsible investors understand that and in many cases use dialogue and participation tools, and even compensation, that are far more advanced than those that stem from legal requirements. It is time to introduce relevant standards about these issues by updating the Act,” the SMM Legal lawyer says.
Potential
Properly organizing the regulations on onshore wind farms seems necessary because of the huge potential of wind energy. However, further social conflicts need to be taken into account when it comes to developing wind energy. It seems the law needs to be updated to allow the construction of wind farms in areas where local communities agree on such projects. The Ministry of Climate stressed in its answer to our questions that wind power constitutes almost 70 percent of power produced from RES in Poland. On the basis of RES auctions that already took place, in the coming years new onshore wind farms will be built with a total capacity of 3.4 GW (1,100 MW contracted in 2018 and 2,300 MW in 2019). „We expect that during this years’ auctions wind power will be contracted at about 800 MW. Therefore, for the years 2018-2020 the expected volume for wind energy is at about 4,000 MW and we believe it will be completely contracted. According to WindEurope’s latest report on financing and investment trends in wind energy in 2019, Poland was fifth in Europe and third in the EU when it comes to financing new wind energy installations. The report says that in 2019 in Poland 630 MW of new onshore wind capacity was financed worth EUR 800 million, which means EUR 1.3 million was paid for one MW. Our country was assessed, next to Spain, as a strong market in the coming years,” the Ministry of Climate concluded.