Thanks to the plans of the Swedish concern OX2, the budgets of Lublin communes may receive PLN 30 million each year. The liberalization of the 10H rule has opened up new investment opportunities for OX2.
Currently, OX2 is completing several wind projects in Poland. In the east, farms are being built in Kraśnik, Huleszew and Grajewo, and OX2 is preparing to build two more wind farms and an energy storage facility in this area.
“These six projects, with a total capacity of nearly 222 MW, are the beginning of our involvement in eastern Poland, and in particular in the Lublin region. Here we see a huge potential for the development of wind projects,” said Tomasz Guzowski, director of the wind area at OX2. Several factors contribute to this potential. The first is the excellent wind and sun conditions that allow design using the full range of renewable sources.
“The second factor is a favorable business and political environment. Both local government officials at the level of communes and starosties meet investment initiatives. It is worth emphasizing the full understanding and cooperation of the authorities of the Lubelskie Voivodeship, which perceive investments in RES as one of the driving forces of the development of the Lublin region, and therefore create good working conditions for investors at the regional level,” he added.
According to the company, the liberalization of the Wind Farm Act, which entered into force on April 23, opens up opportunities for the development of new projects. It assumes that windmills can be placed at a distance of not less than 700 m from the nearest buildings.
Millions for municipalities
According to the assumptions, 20 new wind farms will be built in the Lublin region over the next five years. OX2 calculates that the planned projects will contribute to the creation of many new jobs and to the budgets of municipalities. Due to taxes alone, they are to be enriched by up to PLN 30 million a year.
In addition, wind farms bring measurable benefits to the local community, related to the possibility of purchasing cheap and clean energy directly from the installation. According to the new regulations, at least 10% of the capacity of the installed wind farm will be offered by the investor to the residents of the commune, who would use electricity as a virtual prosumer.
“It’s perfectly possible. We want to actively participate in activities and cooperate in investments that bring benefits to the inhabitants of the Lublin region. For our part, we want to provide not only the capital needed to implement them, but also the most important – knowledge and experience. After all, we are the company that has installed the largest number of onshore wind turbines in Europe,” explains Katarzyna Suchcicka, general director of OX2 in Poland.
The company points out that the Lublin region is a region with excellent wind and sun conditions. Only 2% of electricity on a national scale is produced there, although the area of the voivodeship accounts for 8% of the area of Poland and 5% of the population of Poles.
“The economic and energy security of the inhabitants of the region will depend on the pace of RES development. The war beyond the eastern border has shown that the stability of electricity supplies is determined by a large number of distributed sources, such as wind farms. That is why, as OX2, we will engage in work and activities for the development of the region,” said Suchcicka.
