Reprinted from the "Wind Energy Committee CWEA" public account.
Qin Haiyan: Forbidden escrow is lazy thinking
Author: Qin Haiyan
Vice-President of the World Wind Energy Association WWEA
Executive Director of China Renewable Energy Society
Executive Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Wind Energy Committee
A few days ago, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration issued the "Notice on Regulating the Use of Forest Land for wind farm project construction (Draft for Comments)", which defines the prohibited areas for wind farm construction and the scope of forest land used, which has aroused concern.
Overall, the issuance of the Notice is of positive significance, and the provisions on including sensitive areas such as natural heritage sites, national parks and nature reserves in the prohibited areas of wind power projects have been generally endorsed by the wind power industry, which is conducive to further promoting the development of the wind power industry and the formation of a benign interactive relationship between ecological protection.
However, the provisions in the Notice on the construction of wind farms to "prohibit the use of forested land" are too rigid and harsh, which is a typical "one-size-fits-all" approach. This kind of administrative management method of "forbidden escrow" is not only difficult to produce long-term results, but also hurts related industries, affects economic construction and development, causes trouble to enterprises and the people, and makes the masses lose understanding and trust in the policy. The State Council and the competent departments of ecology and environmental protection have explicitly banned such practices.
Not long ago, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a document stipulating that "one-size-fits-all" is strictly prohibited to protect the rights and interests of legal and compliant enterprises; and requires all localities to strengthen the investigation and handling of the "one-size-fits-all" problem of ecological environmental protection, and to seriously hold accountable the phenomenon of inaction and disorderly behavior. For the wind power industry, this approach is also not advisable. Realistically speaking, in the development of a small number of wind power projects, there are indeed problems such as irregular use of forest land and inadequate restoration of vegetation, but these are not caused by the wind power industry itself, but are more caused by lax supervision, which can be solved by strengthening supervision during and after the event.
A large number of examples have proved that the standardized construction of forest land and mountain wind farms does not cause excessive harm to the ecological environment, and can reduce the damage to the required range through protection and restoration measures. Many projects such as Guodian Power Ninghai Chashan Wind Farm, Huadian Chenzhou Taipingli Wind Farm, Beech Ridge Wind Farm and Branddenkopf Wind Farm abroad have achieved harmonious coexistence with the local environment. Therefore, such problems cannot be wasted because of choking, and all projects can be banned and taken into custody. Otherwise, the development of wind power in the southern region of China and some provinces in the northeast will completely stagnate, and the scale of wind power construction in the country will decline off a cliff, and the equipment manufacturing industry and upstream enterprises in the industrial chain will suffer a devastating blow. Not only that, the significance of vigorously developing the wind power industry for China to accelerate the acceleration of energy transformation and the fulfillment of international commitments to address climate change is self-evident.
The stagnation of wind power construction is bound to lead to the inability of most provinces to complete the target of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption, the target of renewable energy power quota and the proportion of non-hydropower renewable energy consumption, which will ultimately directly affect the realization of the target of 15% of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption in China in 2020。 It can be seen that formulating the scope of forested land for wind farm construction and use according to local conditions is of great significance for promoting the healthy development of the wind power industry, improving the energy structure, and driving the economic development of the county.
Therefore, it is necessary to continue to improve the Notice: First, the provinces should formulate the scope of forested land for wind farm construction and use according to local conditions. There are significant differences in forest coverage, vegetation restoration capacity, terrain conditions, wind energy resource conditions, and new energy consumption in different regions of China, and the "one-size-fits-all" approach to the construction of wind farms and the use of forested land is obviously not in line with the actual management of various places. Consideration should be given to delegating the right to decide on the scope of the use of forested land in the construction of wind farms to the provincial government, and the relevant competent departments shall, according to their own circumstances, and in combination with the provisions on the use and protection of forest land in the laws and regulations promulgated by the state, formulate policies for the construction and use of forested land within the jurisdiction of the wind farm. The State Forestry and Grassland Administration may provide guiding opinions in the process of policy formulation, strictly supervise the implementation of policies, and severely punish enterprises that violate laws and regulations.
Second, strengthen supervision during and after the event, and avoid forbidden escrow. First, wind power development enterprises are required to clarify the financial constraints for ecological restoration in the project contract, and complete the procedures for forest acquisition and land acquisition in accordance with the law before the start of construction, and earnestly do a good job in environmental protection, soil erosion, vegetation restoration and other work during construction。 Second, the competent forestry departments, in conjunction with relevant departments, strengthen the supervision of the use of forest land in wind power projects during and after the event by strengthening law enforcement, specially cracking down on the illegal use of forest land, establishing a blacklist for forestry and wind power development, and increasing the intensity of acceptance and review of vegetation restoration。
The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China calls for increasing the protection of ecosystems, reforming the ecological environment supervision system, and also proposing to develop a clean energy industry and build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system. It can be said that carrying out ecological protection and promoting energy greening are the only way for China to achieve the construction of ecological civilization. Relevant departments must not mix lazy thinking in ecological protection policies and damage the legitimate development rights of wind power enterprises, which is not only contrary to the basic principles of administration in accordance with laws and regulations, but also contrary to the overall situation of the central government's vigorous development of renewable energy industry and accelerating the development of energy transformation.