Municipalities must justify restrictions on wind power plant construction with data - ministry

RIGA - Municipalities should justify restrictions on the construction of wind power plants with facts and data, the Smart Administration and Regional Development Ministry told LETA.

The ministry noted that the municipality's spatial plan is a legal instrument that can be used to restrict property rights, but that any such restriction, not only on the construction of wind power plants, must be justified on the basis of data and facts.

This should include data that are not only based on the municipality's long-term development strategy, but also on studies that have been carried out and are relevant to the area in question.

In its monitoring of the legality of municipal actions, the ministry has repeatedly emphasized this important factor for the legitimacy of the restrictions imposed, including the areas in which placement of wind turbines is prohibited.

At the same time, the ministry pointed out that in the more than ten years since the General Regulations for the Planning, Use and Building of the Territory have been in force, technology has evolved and the technical characteristics of wind power plants have also changed.

According to the ministry, the most important tool for clearly defining the scope of a particular project is an environmental impact assessment, which assesses the potential impact of wind power plants on human health, biodiversity, soil, landscape, cultural and natural heritage.

At the same time, according to the Smart Administration and Regional Development Ministry, the Climate and Energy Ministry has informed about the intention to develop a special legal framework to ensure transparent and traceable monitoring of wind power plants, including low-frequency sound, vibration, flicker, noise and other inherent impacts.

As reported, Smart Administration and Regional Development Minister Raimonds Cudars (New Unity) has partially suspended the spatial plans of Bauska and Preili municipalities due to what he considers illegal restrictions on the production of renewable energy resources.

The minister has identified significant legal and substantive shortcomings, and therefore issued orders to suspend the implementation of the Bauska municipality spatial plan and the binding regulations of the Preili municipality spatial plan in parts that, without sufficient data, research and legal justification, set disproportionate restrictions on the development of renewable energy resources (RES), commercial activities and the exercise of private rights.

"Spatial plans must be data-driven, proportionate and legally justified. Local authorities have a wide discretion in spatial planning, but should not impose vague, unjustified or excessive restrictions that significantly restrict the property rights of individuals and hinder the achievement of the overall national objectives," says Cudars.

The ministry's assessment of the spatial plans of the two municipalities concluded that the restrictions they impose are incompatible with the RES-oriented economic specialization of the municipalities' sustainable development strategies.

In view of the national policy to promote the development of RES production, the plans contain solutions that, in general, significantly limit the development of RES, contradicting the national objectives of strengthening energy independence and the transition to renewable resources.

In a number of cases, the rules are formulated in a legally vague manner, with subjective criteria to be interpreted, which makes it difficult for individuals to foresee the legal consequences and hampers the implementation of development plans.

EWE Neue Energien 2 has submitted to the State Environmental Service (VVD) a plan for the construction of 17 wind power plants (WPP) in the territories of Bauska and Jelgava municipalities, and the VVD has started the environmental impact assessment procedure.

The municipality provided an official response in October last year, stating that most of the planned wind park area is located on agricultural land of national importance, where such construction is not allowed. The municipality believes that the project does not comply with the existing spatial plan and that the zoning should not be changed.

The Latvian subsidiaries of the Danish wind energy group Eurowind Energy plan to build two wind farms in Dienvidkurzeme region, as well as in the Bauska and Jelgava municipalities, according to information on the website of the already dissolved Energy and Environment Agency (EVA).

In the Preili municipality, Latvenergo is planning to build a wind farm in Riebini.