Month: June 2015

On May 28th, 2015 in Łeba and Maj 29th, 2015 in Ustka took place another of a series meetings between local fishermen and the investor – Polenergia Bałtyk III, who is planning to build the Offshore Wind Farm Bałtyk Środkowy III (MFW BSIII). The investment will consist of max. 120 wind turbines located 23 km far off the coast of Poland.

Meetings were attended by representantive of: Foundation for Sustainable Energy (the organizer of meetings), the investor, experts from National Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the following local fishing groups in Ustka and Łeba:
•        Zrzeszenie Rybaków Morskich – Organizacja Producentów,
•        Stowarzyszenie „Łebscy Rybacy”,
•        Grupa Wędkarska Łeba,
•        Środkowopomorska Grupa Rybacka,
•        Zarząd Portu Morskiego w Ustce,
•        Krajowa Izba Producentów Ryb,
•        Związek Rybaków Polskich.
Meetings were an opportunity to present concerns and questions related to the MFW BSIII. Concerns of fishing groups mainly concentrated on the possibility of reducing fish populations which could affect the fishing industry. In addition the possibility of navigating through the wind farm area was discussed (the investor declared that he will not file a request to the authorities to restrict navigation through the wind farm area) and the impact of the investment on the regional industry.
The conclusions from the meetings will be published shortly.

On Monday 27th of April finals of a knowledge contest were organized whose theme was offshore wind energy. The contest was organized at the Primary School in Ustka and was accompanied by an exhibition of the best art works submitted by students of primary school in the art contest (Take a look at photos below!!)

 Level of knowledge, intelligence and very good preparation of all  contestants were a big surprise for the audience and jury. In finals contestants presented multimedia presentations and artworks, one of the pupils even sang a song about offshore wind turbines. Perhaps it will become a hymn of the first offshore wind farm in Poland 🙂 After presentations jury chose 3 best contestants who took part in the final quiz.
Both knowledge and art contests were organized by the Foundation for Sustainable Energy and were part of a ongoing campaign of communication and public education for Offshore Wind Farm Bałtyk Środkowy III. The sponsor of awards were Polenergia Bałtyk III.
The winners of the knowledge contest were:
1st place – MARLENA SOŁTYSIŃSKA, the pupil of 6th grade of Primary School number 3 in Darłowo,
2nd place – KARINA KRYSZAŁOWICZ, the pupil of 2nd grade of Scholl in Objazda,
3rd place – JAKUB TRACZYK – the pupil of 5th grade of Primary School number 2 in Ustka.
The winners of the art contest were:
•    JAKUB MACIEJEWSKI, the pupil of 1st grade of Primary School in Łeba,
•    AMELIA DUDUŚ,  the pupil of 2nd grade of Primary School number 2 in Ustka,
•    JAKUB LISIAK,  the pupil of 1st grade of Primary School number 2 in Ustka,
•    MARCIN SZCZEŚNIAK, the pupil of 2nd grade of Primary School number 2 in Ustka,
•    OLIWIA BOCHNIAK, the pupil of 1st grade of Primary School number 2 in Ustka.
The campaign of communication and public education for Offshore Wind Farm Bałtyk Środkowy III involves meetings with representatives of local authorities, fishermen and residents of the costal municipalities. Futhermore, a poster session will be organized showing information about the project. The campaign is intended to start social dialog about impacts and benefits of erecting the first offshore wind farms in Poland.

On Friday (May 15th, 2015) the first of a series of meetings took place between local fishermen  and the investor – Polenergia Bałtyk III , who is planning to build the Offshore Wind Farm Bałtyk Środkowy III. The investment will consist of max. 120 wind turbines located 23 km of the coast of Poland. The meeting was moderated by the Foundation for Sustainable Energy which introduced an overview of the situation of offshore wind energy in Europe and Poland.
The investor presented details of the project and experts from National Marine Fisheries Research Institute presented results of an over-a-year-long environmental monitoring programme for the project and the potential impacts on fish and fisheries.
The meeting was attended by almost 20 representatives of the local fish producers group and the port authority in Darłowo, who had an opportunity to present their concerns, such as:
•    possibility of navigating through the wind farm area,
•    possibility of fishing within the wind farm area,
•    the impact of investment on regional industry.
The investor declared that he will not file a request to the authorities to restrict navigation through the wind farm area and fishing  but only using gear which will not be a risk to the subsea cables . The project is at an early stage of development and detailed agreements will be determined on a further stage, when all the impacts are known and can be monetized.
Apart from the impact of the project on fishing industry the impact on the local industry was also discussed.  An example from France was presented where realization of offshore wind farm projects was directly connected with locating production facilities in this country. Such system could be transferred to Poland.
Full record of the meeting is available at www.baltyk3.pl .

The senator Mr. Kazimierz Kleina made a statement during 74th Senate meeting on May 7th, 2015 in which he presented following questions:
1)    What solutions to facilitate the construction of offshore wind farms and subsea cables have been included in the draft version of the act?
2)    How does the act relate to the postulates of the offshore wind energy industry presented during the Offshore Conference “Development of coastal regions” and numerous letters and statements by the  representatives of the industry?

In answer to the questions, Ms. Dorota Pyć – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, responded that the Ministry is currently working on an amendment of the act on marine areas of the Republic of the Poland and Maritime Administration. The current draft version of the act extends the time the investor has from obtaining the location permit (PSZW) until obtaining the construction permit from 6 to 8 years with a possible extension to 10 years. At the same time the validity of PSZW for offshore wind farms has been increased from 30 to 35 years. In addition the amendment will allow for transfer of the rights deriving from licenses to other entities.
These changes are in line with the postulates of the Foundation for Sustainable Energy (FNEZ) submitted during work on the Renewable Energy Sources Act and later during public consultation of the act on maritime areas of the Republic of Poland and Maritime Administration carried out by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development.

Attachments:
The response of Mrs. Dorota Pyć – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development to the Mr. Kzimierz Kleina position statement on May 7th, 2015

Mr. Kazimierz Kleina  position statement from 74th Senate meeting on May 7th, 2015