On 24 March 2025 a bill was filed with the Sejm to amend the Wind Power Plants Act. We discussed the key changes compared to the earlier draft of 25 September 2024 in last week’s article. This article is devoted entirely to “repowering,” i.e. upgrading existing wind power plants.
Before the rigorous regulations on siting of wind power plants were introduced in 2017, this was the fastest-growing segment of renewable energy sources in Poland. According to the drafters of the proposed amendment, in 2005–2008 alone about a gigawatt of capacity was installed at wind farms in Poland. After some 20 years in operation, these installations are reaching the end of their technological lifecycle and should be replaced by new turbines whose technology would allow them to generate more electricity with less negative impact on the environment.
Repowering—upgrading existing installations—should increase the installed capacity without the need to enlarge the environmental impact zone. Indeed, it is pointed out that in many instances it would be possible to double the capacity while reducing the number of turbines. The current bill includes a range of procedural breaks, which combined with changes in the regulations on the distance of wind power installations from other development should facilitate such upgrades.
The bill also includes a definition of “upgrading” (modernizacja), to mean a development process involving one or more wind power plants already put into operation which may lead to an increase in the total combined capacity but not entail an increase in the number of turbines. This means that in repowering, it will not be permissible to add more generating units to an existing venture.
Planning stage
Repowering would also be possible in the case of units sited in the past on the basis of a decision on construction decisions, but only after completing the full planning track, ending in adoption of a local spatial development plan. It is also not ruled out that changes could be made via the integrated development plan procedure. This solution is consistent with the assumption adopted by the drafters that siting of wind power plants should be done solely on the basis of a local spatial development plan.
Adoption of a new local plan would also be required for upgrading power plants sited on the basis of a local plan that prohibits repowering (e.g. by restrictions on the maximum height of the wind turbine or the diameter of the rotors).
If the local plan allows for upgrading, it will be possible to issue environmental decisions and building permits on the basis of the local plan. Certain provisions, e.g. on the minimum distance of a wind power plant from an extra-high-voltage electricity network, or bans on siting of wind power plants on sites covered by forms of nature protection, would not apply in such proceedings.
Environmental stage
The bill eases the requirements for upgrading to increase the installed capacity by a maximum of 20% without increasing the impact area of the venture. The main advantage is that in assessing the environmental impact, only the changes resulting from the planned upgrade will be analysed.
Moreover, if the upgrade involves only a change in the installed capacity, without changing the total height of the unit, the maximum diameter of the rotors or the location, and it will not impact the operating conditions set forth in the existing environmental decision or increase noise emissions, it will not be necessary to obtain a new environmental decision. It should be borne in mind, however, that the earlier decision will continue to be binding on such matters as the post-execution analysis, compensation and monitoring, if not yet performed.
Construction stage
If the upgrade does not require obtaining a decision on environmental conditions because only the installed capacity is being changed, it will be sufficient to submit a notification of the upgrade, enclosing a description of the planned works and an acoustic analysis pre- and post-upgrade. In other cases, it will be necessary to obtain a building permit.
Connection stage
The bill also makes it easier in several ways to change the conditions for connecting upgraded wind power plants to the grid. It provides for a reduction in the connection fee, exemption from the duty to pay an advance against the connection fee, and shortening the deadlines for issuance of connection conditions, as well as introducing an obligation to issue connection conditions for the units included in the upgrade.
Under the planned amendment of the Energy Law, there will be a duty to issue connection conditions if the upgrade does not result in an increase in the total installed capacity of a given power plant. However, these conditions will lapse if the investor does not obtain an operating permit within a year after the connection conditions are delivered to the investor.
The long-awaited provisions on repowering are proof of the change in treatment of wind power in Poland. The approach to operation of these units in their existing locations has also diametrically changed. The aim of the proponents of the earlier restrictive provisions was evidently to bring existing wind power units to the end of their lifecycle and gradually kill them off. That would mean the loss of existing generating capacity at sites where the local community has already grown accustomed to the operation of wind turbines.
Radosław Wasiak, adwokat, Zuzanna Poleszak, Energy practice, Wardyński & Partners
