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Polish Briefing 5 February, 2019 9:00 am   
COMMENTS: Mateusz Gibała

Polish Briefing: Offshore needs a scale

What goes on in Poland on the 5th of February.

Kaczerowski: Offshore needs a scale

– The spatial development plan for Polish sea areas (PZP POM) which specifies, among others space for the development of wind farms in the Baltic Sea, is being worked on. This is the second version of the plan, which includes part of the postulates of the wind energy industry, which were brought at an earlier stage of wider consultations. Now, the arrangements include coastal local authorities, RDOŚ, Ministry of National Defense along with other key ministries, provincial authorities and port managers – says Michał Kaczerowski, head of the Ambiens consulting company.

Interlocutor of BiznesAlert.pl argues that the target environmental potential for the development of wind energy in the Baltic Sea is much larger than contained in this plan. The current shape of the PZP POM reflects the challenges posed by renewable energy in the medium term. According to the Act on Marine Areas, the plan will be subject to periodic assessment and possible change at least every 10 years. In his opinion, the PZP POM will have to evolve in line with the development of technology, popularization of next generation devices, eg floating wind turbines.

Kaczerowski says that this is one of the two key legal acts which the offshore industry and energy are waiting for. Another important and expected document is the law on the development of offshore wind energy, called the offshore law.

Groups of offshore projects

– The offshore set-up is expected by all three groups of projects, categorized according to the degree of advancement. The first is the leading precursor projects, with location decisions – permission to build and use artificial islands (PSZW), connection conditions, legally valid or finalized environmental decisions. The second one is projects that only have a location decision of the PSZW that gives a legal title to dispose of the area. Some of them are in the process of preliminary environmental studies or the procedure of environmental impact assessment initiated. The third group, not less important, are “greenfield” projects, which are jokingly called “bluefield” at sea. They are based on complex, but suspended applications for the PSZW – the first milestone in the whole permitting procedure – Michał Kaczerowski says.

– A wide group of the least advanced, but determined, wanting to start projects is especially waiting for PZP POM and the Offshore Act, which are to clarify the area issues and improve the complicated and time-consuming mechanisms for obtaining all decisions, permits and agreements. Here we see a lot of interest – adds Michał Kaczerowski. As he claims, without this the investment decision and the start-up of the preparatory works are extremely difficult or even impossible. The Law on the development of offshore wind energy is also to treat the connection conditions and the support system, which is a priority for pioneers.