Slovakia seems less likely to get new wind power plants any time soon after investors were presented with a new bureaucratic hurdle.
The Public Health Office has issued new guidelines for the assessment of noise and vibration at wind power plants. Plants with 150-metre high towers must now be located at least 3 kilometres from inhabited areas. The guidelines apply to all the projects that are currently in the permitting phase; these are collectively worth €1.4 billion.
The Economy Ministry says it wants to negotiate with the office to remove the condition, saying it represents a barrier to the development of wind energy.
Who plans to build new wind turbines in Slovakia? Read more According to Ján Lacko from the Slovak Association of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Industry (SAPI), no country in the EU has such strict criteria when it comes to the location of wind power plants. He points to Austria, which has hundreds of such wind turbines, some located as little as 600 metres from the nearest houses. Slovakia currently has just five.
"As each location is different, there are natural noise barriers, and the technology used may also differ. That is why any noise in the inhabited area should be measured and assessed on a case-by-case basis in Slovakia, as part of each project's permitting process," Lacko says.
The office did not respond to questions on the topic.
