The XI^th edition of the Wind Energy Forum was held on 24 November in Warsaw. The subject discussed was „Energy Law vs. Directive 28/2009/EC – is the amendment to the Energy Law compatible with the new RES promotion Directive?”. Once again the Forum attracted significant attention, with almost 300 participants willing to actively participate in a discussion to solve the problems hindering wind power development in Poland.

The Forum started with a joint presentation by PWEA President, Mr. Jarosław Mroczek and PWEA Vice-President, Mr. Krzysztof Prasałek, addressing two issues:

• The possibility to meet the 15% target for the share of RES energy in primary energy by 2020;
• The amendments to the national law and procedures to implement Directive 28/2009/EC.

An analysis of tasks required to implement the Directive by 5 December 2010 demonstrated a significant threat of failure to meet the obligation in due time. The need to amend at least ten acts requires immediate and decisive action by the Government and the Parliament. To streamline realisation of the tasks the speakers proposed to appoint a RES Coordinator.

After the presentation by PWEA representatives the floor was taken by Deputy Chairman of the Sejm’s Economy Committee, Mr. Andrzej Czerwiński, MP. He encouraged representatives of the wind power sector to jointly work on the necessary amendments to legal regulations. Furthermore, he declared to commence works on yet another amendments to the Energy Law to implement the Directive 28/2009/EC, to start immediately after adoption of the current draft amendment.

The second part of the Forum was an open discussion between participants and representative of Ministry of Economy, Director Tomasz Dąbrowski, and Mr. Andrzej Czerwiński, MP. A discussion concerning the stability of the RES support scheme was very hot. Representatives of the wind power sector emphasized the importance of the support scheme’s stability for investment decisions. In reply MP Czerwiński declared the will to maintain long-term legal solutions in the area.

PWEA believes that the dialogue between representatives of the wind power sector and the Polish Government and Parliament will contribute to quick removal of barriers hindering development of the industry.