How is it possible to preserve the environment and bio-diversity alongside the faster development of RES as required by REPowerEU – was the topic of the Panel Environmental Protection and the Further Development of Wind Farms, held during the Good Wind Conference in Dubrovnik. The panel was moderated by Mirna Mazija, director of the Supernatural Company. At the very beginning, Aljoša Duplić, director of the Institute for Environmental and Nature Protection at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of the RC, pointed out that we are facing rather difficult times. First, we have climate change, then the pandemic, and now the war and an energy crisis. “The EU Green Deal gave as a plan for combating climate change but unfortunately without including bio-diversity, and for that reason it is important to vest greater attention to that topic and better environmental protection, and the REPowerEU plan is an excellent continuation of the Green Deal” he pointed out. After decades of developing RES projects difficulties were observed which could have been avoided if sensitivity maps existed – a point agreed upon by all the panelists.

Hein Prinsen, the senior consultant at the Bureau Waardenburg, pointing to the experience from his country, described how The Netherlands has been building large wind farms for already 20 years, but that only recently, when the organization Bird Life brought the sensitivity maps serious problems appeared. Often the projects end up in courts since they are built or planned to be built on bird corridors and nature parks. Due to the overpopulation of the country, they have no place to be constructed. “Sensitivity maps came too late, but we do not consider them as something that will stop the project but rather as a guidepost for what should be done and measures to be applied in the course of development in order for the animal world to have maximum benefit from them”, Hein noted.

Sensitivity maps have already started to be applied for numerous protection measures of the animal world, but at times they become a signal for more serious problems. For example, due to one type of buzzard the local community in the Netherlands requested the turning off of the turbine during the propagation season. It is useful to know such information beforehand, prior to the beginning of construction.

Arnaud Bellanger, director of Statkraft for France and Croatia, a company that has been on our market for only a year but has long-standing experience in developing and managing RES projects, underlined the importance of adaptive management and cooperation with the local community, the timely planning and solution of problems with the aid of sensitivity maps and other tools. If problems crop up unplanned, such as the changed route of birds or bats, then innovative solutions have to be applied. One blade painted black at their wind farm in Norway received great media attention because owing to it it was observed that the loss of birds decreased by 70%.

Croatia will have a number of vulnerability maps which will include sensitivity maps for birds, as well as those for bats, for habitats, and for wildlife.  There will also be a map analyzing the infrastructure of existing spatial plans for approved projects as well as those that are yet to be realized and will perfectly fit into the Go-to areas, zones for the rapid development of RES projects – Aljoša Duplić pointed out.

Most of the panelists assessed the Go-to areas as a positive EU initiative. These are areas with no significant impact on the environment and can therefore be designated as those for the easier and faster attainment of permits for RES projects. If permits are not issued in a period of one year it will be considered that the outcome was positive and the realization of the projects can begin right away. Croatia, like the other EU countries must first identify and clearly designate these areas, which is expected by the end of next year.

Ivan Strunje, Business Development Manager from NEOEN, sees a great chance for the development of RES projects in the Go-to areas. “Not all projects are of equal significance and the designation of zones in which there is no greater environmental impact saves time which should be channeled to the projects that will have an impact on the environment and therefore making it clear that the issuing of permits for them will last longer.”

Dalibor Hatić, director of the OIKON Institute for Applied Ecology, pointed out that he expects appropriately regulated rules for the designation of Go-to areas and noted how Croatia encountered problems due to previous planners who did not clearly define zones of environmental protection and biodiversity for the development of RES projects. He underlined that the selection of the locations is the first and most important step, with which all the panelists agreed. “Due to the poor choice of location, 3 out of 4 projects are at times rejected”, he emphasized on the basis of his own experience. He mentioned the example of the USA which records similar statistical data. In that country only 25 to 50 percent of the RES projects get a green light precisely because of the poor location choice. Generally speaking, can the rapid RES development be proclaimed as a question of national interest, equal to environmental preservation and bio-diversity as required by REPowerEU – he asked.

Hein Prinsen answered that as far as The Netherlands is concerned, there was never any doubt – as a society they unanimously agreed. “Precisely due to climate change the transition to renewable energy sources has become the most important question in the country, a question of strategic interest equal to environmental preservation”.  Therefore it is not surprising that they share in significance, which was not the case up to now – the majority of the panelists concluded.

The transition to RES will not be possible without digitalizing the process as well as without the necessary investments in human resources in all competent institutions. Arnaud Bellanger noted that Statkraft always engages local resources, humans, and services, but it was difficult to do so on locations in Croatia. Dalibor Hatić, disagreed, pointing out that Croatia has expert and competent human resources but that the problem was in a large number of requests unable to be processed due to overcrowding and lack of personnel. That is why investment in human resources is key, as was also envisaged by the REPowerEU plan.

The panel was an excellent place for developers and companies that work deep in nature and build large projects in the environment to show how they build relationships of trust with the local community, which is not always simple. “As opposed to investors, developers follow the project from beginning to end and it is clear that we closely cooperate with local communities because it is also very important for them to know who will be their neighbors in the next 30 years. Accordingly, much more effort and attention is dedicated to it”, Ivan Strunje emphasized. He added that it is much more worthwhile for every developer to invest more money at the beginning for nature protection than to later suffer a much greater financial loss.

Hein Pristen and Dalibor Hatić established that not everyone is always ready to apply measures such as turning off the turbines, upgrading the cameras or bio-sensors- But that is also changing. The number of those who are ready for dialogue is increasing. All this is important in order to actually achieve more enhanced development such as we need as well as provide environmental protection and our energy security.

Ivan Strunje commended the role of the OIEH Association which recognized on time the importance of such a dialogue, and as of last year has brought together, through the Environmental Protection Working Group, all the stakeholders of the process precisely with the goal of finding solutions more quickly and of higher quality.

Often environmental protection experts do not understand investors and developers and vice versa. At this panel, which was an opportunity to clearly express opposed opinions and which was the whole idea of the discussion, we came to a result. “Let this become our platform for the achievement of goals”, the moderator Mirna Mazija concluded.