The draft law UD162, published in February of this year, in addition to extensively amending provisions on offshore wind energy, introduces into the Renewable Energy Sources Law provisions establishing potential maps and areas of accelerated RES development. In particular, the issue of Accelerated Renewable Development Areas (OPROs), in which it is expected to be much faster to obtain the complete set of permits necessary for the construction of RES installations, is of great interest.
The obligation to introduce OPROs stems from the provisions of the RED III Directive (Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2018/2001 of December 11, 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources), which requires European Union member states to introduce areas where obtaining permits for the construction of RES installations will be short – up to 12 months, and in some cases even shorter. The deadline for implementing the provisions of the RED III directive is May 21, 2025.
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- Draft UD162 – main assumptions of the OPRO
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Regulations on OPROs and RES potential maps are to be included in a new chapter in the RES law – 7b. OPROs will not be a stand-alone creation, but are to be established within the framework of RES potential maps, i.e. maps developed and published by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. These maps are to be in digital form and created separately for each renewable source, both on land and in marine and inland waters (proj. Articles 160e and 160f).
Thus, we are dealing with a cascade structure – RES potential maps will be created first, and only within the framework of these maps are OPROs to be established. What is particularly important, OPROs can be created only where a local zoning plan will be in effect, allowing the construction of RES installations of a given type. From a practical point of view, this may be the main “brake” on OPROs, since many local plans either do not regulate the permissibility of building RES installations at all, or allow quite symbolic development with a limited capacity of up to a few hundred kilowatts. In such a situation, the effectiveness of OPRO may be significantly reduced.
Provincial assemblies will be responsible for developing the OPROs (proj. Article 160g), and the executive authorities of the municipalities covered by the OPROs, distribution system operators and the Regional Director of Environmental Protection will be involved in the agreement process. As in the case of RES potential maps, OPROs will be enacted separately for each type of renewable source. The deadline for enacting the first OPROs, according to the draft, is February 21, 2026, which is about 11 months from now.
The current wording of the draft UD162 does not clarify the most important issues concerning OPROs, and therefore the proposal to shorten the deadlines for an investor of a RES installation to obtain particular administrative decisions or other types of approvals or documents, which will allow for the most efficient formal and legal process related to the construction of a RES installation.
2. OPRO vs. RED III
At the same time, the RED III Directive sets ambitious and specific goals related to the simplification of administrative procedures allowing the construction of renewable energy sources. It is worth noting that the directive’s guidelines do not apply only to OPROs, but also to the general conduct of licensing procedures for RES installations. What is particularly important, the development of RES has been given a very specific framework:
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- First and foremost, efficiency, i.e. not only building capacity, but also lowering demand, innovative technologies and maximizing efficiency,
- Development of already developed space for development (parking lots, rooftops, industrial wastelands, post-production areas), instead of interfering with the intact natural environment,
- Promotion of self-consumption and own energy sources by industry,
- Recovery and use of heat and cooling energy from production processes,
- Simple, transparent and electronic administrative proceedings.
In the above context, the provisions of the directive in Articles 16a – 16d contain the most important issues related to the time limits for issuing permits, namely:
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- 12 months to issue permits for RES installations within the OPRO (24 for offshore RES installations)
- 24 months to issue permits for RES installations outside the OPRO (36 for offshore RES installations)
- 6 months to issue permits for RES installations up to 150 kW (12 months for offshore RES installations)
- 3 months for the issuance of connection conditions in the case of expansion of RES installations by no more than 15% of the existing capacity
What’s more, the RED III directive requires that by November 21, 2025, all permitting proceedings necessary for the construction of RES installations must be issued electronically. It is clear that sorting out all the described threads goes far beyond the RES Act or the Energy Law. However, given the possibility of a single, comprehensive amendment, complementing the partial changes in administrative procedures already made, it is worth the extra effort to fully implement the directive and give the OPRO the most effective framework possible.
3. Summary
The OPROs appear to be a good solution, the implementation of which would primarily support energy efficiency and the establishment of RES installations where they will achieve the best efficiency, with the least administrative effort and the least environmental interference. However, the following risks and concerns can be pointed out, which may negatively affect the effectiveness of the commented amendment:
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- Central planning of RES potential maps, which are the starting point for locating OPROs,
- Short timeframe for the enactment of the first OPROs relative to the steps needed to be taken as part of the preparatory process,
- Restrictions arising from local development plans, the content of which may significantly limit the actual capacity of OPROs,
- The need to amend the provisions of various laws, which, in addition, should be structured in such a way as to make it possible to realistically meet the deadlines for issuing permits in accordance with the RED III directive.
