Discovering the new renewable legal order in Poland: with or without wind?

Poland has been praised for the development of onshore wind energy in recent years. This may be stopped by the act on the investments in wind power plants of May 2016. Seemingly it looks like a typical regulation concerning spatial planning. However, its provisions raise many controversies, as in practice it does not address running wind investments but rather blocking them. The new law eliminates several investment opportunities in terms of land for their construction (inter alia, because of a buffer zone enacted in the new legislation). These circumstances are highlighted in my paper in which I delve into the legislative process related to the investment act, providing analysis of the initial proposal and the current law in force, as well as listing the controversies and burdens imposed on the wind energy sector. •The Polish act on investments in wind power plants is not a “pro-investment” legislation.•The Polish standard of a non-investment buffer zone is one of the most rigorous in Europe.•Wind investments should be based on an individualised, extended assessment of environmental impact.•It will be much harder to find ‘a right place’ in Poland to build and operate an onshore wind farm.