Polish government approves bill to ease building of onshore wind farms

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s government has approved long-delayed legislation that would make it easier to build onshore wind farms by reducing the distance from existing buildings that turbines can be installed.

The climate minister, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, says the bill, which also includes other measures to boost renewables, will help reduce electricity prices, which have risen rapidly in recent years in coal-dependent Poland.

However, figures from the national-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party have criticised the plans, including PiS-backed presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, who says they are being pushed through against the wishes of Poles and in the interests of foreign corporations.

In 2016, Poland’s then PiS government introduced the so-called “10H rule”, which forbade the construction of wind farms where there are buildings within a distance of ten times the height of the turbine. That effectively barred wind investments on most of Poland’s territory.

In 2023, when PiS was still in power, those rules were loosened to allow turbines to build within 700 metres of buildings. Initially, the government had proposed the distance be 500 metres, but that was increased in a last-minute amendment

When the current ruling coalition replaced PiS in power in December 2023, it pledged to loosen the restrictions even further. However, a bill that would have done so was abandoned after criticism that it would have allowed land to be expropriated to build turbines and claims that lobbyists had influenced the legislation.

But on Friday this week, 15 months after those previous plans were shelved, the government approved a bill to change the rules on where turbines can be built. It must still be approved by parliament, where the government has a majority, and by President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally.

Under the new rules, the minimum distance that turbines could be build from existing residential buildings would be reduced from 700 metres to 500 metres. The climate ministry says that this would increase the amount of land available for wind farms by 26%.

According to its estimates, that would lead to the doubling of installed onshore wind capacity by 2030, meaning an additional 10 GW.

The ban on building turbines in national parks and other protected natural areas would be maintained. Wind farms could also not be established within 1,500 metres of national parks or 500 metres of areas designated under the EU’s Natura 2000 network to protect birds and bats.

The ministry also emphasises that it is “local authorities and communities who will be able to decide, fully independently, on the possibility of implementing an investment [in a wind farm], including its location and scale”. Investors will also be required to offer local communities a share of at least 10% of the wind farm’s capacity.

“Thanks to the changes, local communities will gain real benefits – cheaper energy, new jobs and revenues to municipal budgets,” says the ministry.

The bill also includes other elements intended to bolster renewables, such as making it easier to modernise existing wind farms and supporting the development of biomethane plants, biogas pipelines and small hydroelectric power plants.

Last year, Poland produced a record 29% of its electricity from renewables, up from 26% in 2023 and just over 10% in 2018. Onshore wind (14.9%) was the biggest source of renewable power in 2024, followed by solar (11%). However, coal still generated 56.7% of electricity.

The former PiS government in 2023 outlined plans to produce 51% of electricity from renewables by 2040, with a further 23% coming from Poland’s first-ever nuclear power stations. It also launched efforts to build Poland’s first offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

The new ruling coalition, led by Donald Tusk, that replaced PiS in December 2023 pledged to accelerate the move away from coal. However, since coming to power, it has failed to enact a single law that would significantly advance the energy transition.

The progress of the wind farm bill and other energy legislation will depend upon who holds the presidency and its power of veto over bills approved by parliament. The incumbent, Duda, will finished his second and final term in August this year.

After the government approved the wind farm bill yesterday, it was welcomed by Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO), who tweeted a photograph of himself visiting a wind turbine. He is currently the favourite to win the presidential elections.

However, PiS-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki, who is second in the polls, criticised the proposals in a social media post.

“The government has quietly pushed through regulations that allow wind turbines to be erected just 500 meters from our housing estates – against the protests of Poles, and in accordance with the wishes of foreign corporations,” he warned. “Let’s stop this!”

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Harry Cunningham/Pexels 

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.