The development of renewable energy sources in Poland is slowed down by lengthy procedures for issuing investment permits. Obtaining all approvals for onshore wind farms takes up to 7 years, and for photovoltaic farms around 3 years. Problems mainly concern three areas: environmental, planning and network procedures. These are investment obstacles that have not yet been systemically resolved.

Lengthy procedures for permitting investments are hindering not only the pace of RES development, but also that of energy storage and network infrastructure. Without systemic improvements, Poland will not be able to exploit the full potential of the energy transition and will not achieve its climate targets for 2030 and 2050, emphasises Maria Niewitała-Rej, the report’s lead author.

However, the expert notes that shortening procedures cannot mean loosening environmental protection rules but rather increasing their transparency and improving the efficiency of the institutions involved in the process.

The executive summary of the report provides a brief overview of main barriers in investments in renewable energy sources and an assessment of possible systemic solutions.