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Non-Technical Executive Summary

ORLA WIND FARM POLAND

October 2012

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Introduction and general project presentation

The Nordex Polska Sp. z o.o. (developer) is developing a wind farm in the vicinity of Orla

village, Orla commune (gmina), Bielsk Poldlaski county (powiat), Podlaskie voivodeship

(województwo), eastern Poland. It is planned that the project will be developed by

a consortium of Cerac, Energix and Nordex companies, via the joint venture company

C&C Wind Sp. z o.o (the company).

The subject wind farm configuration includes:

15 wind turbine generators (WTGs), type Nordex N100 (visible on the first page of

the summary),

main electrical substation (MES);

underground infrastructure of power transmission and control cables;

access roads to individual WTGs and assembly and service yards.

Total installed capacity of the wind farm will amount to 37.5 MW.

The WTGs are to be located in two groups:

nine WTGs on the land plots located to west of the village of Orla, in an area

delineated by the villages of Spiczki from the north and Topczykały from the south

and national road No. 66 from the west, and

six WTGs on the land plots located to the east of the village of Orla, on northern and

southern side of the local road Orla-Krywiatycze

The project is classified, both from the point of view of European Union and Polish legislation

(Executive Order from November 9, 2010 on investments potentially significantly impacting

the environment), as the one which may be required to undergo Environmental Impact

Assessment process as an investment which could have a potentially significant impact on

the environment. The local authorities taking into account the environmental regulations

decided that development of an environmental impact assessment report is obligatory for the

investment.

This non-technical summary presents information enclosed in two environmental impact

assessment reports (EIA) prepared in two different stages of the project execution and other

environmental documentations prepared for the needs of the planned wind farm.

Based on the environmental impact assessment reports and analysis of available

information, the project is not likely to generate significant adverse social impacts or need

for involuntary resettlement or economic displacement. No regulatory non-compliance

issues were identified in this audit, except for minor non-compliance of the EIA reports with

the applicable Polish law and partial non-compliance of the birds monitoring with the

Guidelines for Assessment of Wind Farms on Birds, recommended by Polish Association

of Wind Energy. Respective recommendations for the project execution has been directed to

the the company/developer.

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WTGs description

According to the environmental impact assessment reports prepared for the development,

the Nordex WTGs, type N100, with power of 2.5 MW will be installed at the wind farm.

A typical wind turbine generator consists of a tower and a gondola comprising a rotor and

measurement apparatus. The rotor is composed of the blades, attached to each other by

a bearing. The blades are moved by the wind and transmit this force to the bearing, which is

connected to a multiplier that increases the axle speed. The mechanical energy is

transferred from the multiplier to an electricity generator, which transforms it into electricity

for subsequent injection into the grid.

It is planned to construct 100 m high hubs with rotors of 99.8 m in diameter. The WTGs will

be mounted on octagonal foundations of a 20 m diameter. The area occupied by a single

foundation will therefore amount approximately 300 m2 and by all 15 foundations –

approximately 0.5 ha.

Access to the WTGs will be provided by a network of access roads. Total length of newly

constructed roads will amount approximately 4 km and renewed and remodeled existing dirt

and asphalt roads – approximately 10 km. The new roads are to be of 5 m of width thus total

area occupied by new roads will amount approximately 2 ha. The access roads will be

terminated with trapezoidal assembly yards of maximum dimensions 22x43 m and area of

748 m2 each. Total area of the new roads and assembly yards will therefore amount to

approximately 2.1 ha, and the total area occupied by the wind farm (i.e. excluded from

current, agricultural use) will be approximately 2.6 ha. Necessary arrangements for

entrances/exists from the public roads will be constructed as temporary ones and will be

dismantled after completion of the WTGs assembly. Taking into account that according to

the EIA reports the total area of the land plots occupied by the wind farm amounts

approximately 21 km2, approximately 0.1% of this area will be occupied by the wind farm

and its road and assembly yards infrastructure.

The individual WTGs will generate electricity of a 0.69 kV voltage, which after transformation

to 30 kV voltage in the individual, on-site, container substations will be transferred to the

MES via a network of underground power cables installed inside the pipelines made of

RHDPE. The pipelines will house also optical fiber lines for control and steering of the

WTGs. The cabling route will follow, according to the EIA report, the local zoning plan,

decision on public interest investment and agreements with the land owners. The cabling

route will be marked with concrete stakes except for internal areas of arable fields.

The MES will be constructed adjacent to the existing 15/100 kV MES operated by PGE

operator.

The construction works has not started yet, however, the project was already granted

environmental decision and passed the second EIA as a part of a procedure aimed at an

issuance of building permit. Within the second course of the environmental impact

assessment the authorities requested one of the WTGs to be moved away from the trees

along the nearby road (by approximately 30 m). In order to implement this request the

company applied for the building permit for 14 WTGs only. As soon as the design works are

completed for new location of the WTG of concern the company will apply for an update of

the building permit to reflect originally assumed number of WTGs. Such approach allows

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the wind farm to be developed in the shortest possible time and does not affect previously

completed assessments of the wind farm’s environmental and social impacts.

Project Location

The Orla wind farm is to be developed in the commune of Orla, Bielsk Podlaski county,

Podlaskie voivodeship. According to the available sources, the Orla commune occupies

an area of approximately 160 km2, of which 80% is occupied by agricultural land and only

12% by forests. As for 2004, the population of the commune totaled approximately 3 500

residents.

The wind farm is to be located at two sub-sites located respectively to the east and to the

west of the village of Orla (please refer to the map below). The first site, of an approximate

area of 8 km2, which will house six WTGs, can be described as a path of land perpendicular

to the local road Orla-Krywiatycze, with the closest WTG location in a distance of

approximately 2 km to the east of Orla, The second one of an approximate area of 13 km2,

which will house nine WTGs, can be virtually delineated by the villages of Spiczki from the

north and Topczykały from the south, national road No. 66 from the west and Orla village

form the east. The nearest WTG of the second site is situated approximately 2.5 km away

from Orla.

Based on the site visit observations and review of aerial photos and topographic maps,

the wind farm development area has a rural character. The terrain is slightly hilly (with terrain

elevation varying between 150 and 164 m asl), in majority occupied by arable fields and

to some extent by small forest complexes, located in a distance of a few hundred meters

from the planned WTG locations. There is a network of local, mainly dirt roads, crossing both

sub-sites of the wind farm. These are connected with the asphalt roads of a local character

and by mean of these with a national road No. 66. Based on visual observations, the local

road network provides easy access to the construction sites with no evident obstacles that

could affect transport of an oversize cargo during the construction phase. In particular no

trees or historical monuments were identified as such possible obstacles.

The sites are located away from environmentally sensitive areas.

As established during the meeting with Orla authorities representative, there are no existing

wind farms or single WTGs at the territory of the commune and no such development,

except for the subject one is planned. For the purposes of the environmental assessment all

communes bordering with the Orla commune were contacted, i.e.: Bielsk Podlaski, Boćki,

Dubicze Cerkiewne, Kleszczele and Czyże. All commune offices were contacted via

telephone and the representatives of local authorities, responsible for environment protection

and development investment were interviewed. The interviews were focused on obtaining

general information regarding any wind farm investments (existing or being developed)

within the borders of the subject commune.

Based on the interviews, there are no existing wind farms or wind farms currently under

development in the neighboring communes, except for Czyże commune. None such projects

were reported to be planned at the time of the interviews (10-15 May, 2012). The Czyże

wind farm is to be located in Czyże commune, which is located approximately 10 km

to the north-east of the Orla wind farm development. The investor intends to install WTGs of

a total capacity of 5 MW. Currently the project is at a preliminary stage of development.

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Below you will find a map with the layout of the wind farm.

Source: Raport o oddziaływaniu na środowisko przedsięwzięcia: budowa farmy wiatrowej Orla

Rationale for this Project

In line with European Climate Change Program, many European countries, including Poland, have adopted national programmers aimed at reducing emissions. These cover various policies, adopted at the European level as well as national levels, includes among others:

Planned increase in use of renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass)

Improvements in energy efficiency in e.g. buildings, industry, household appliances;

The main regulations of EU countries to reduce emissions is the Emission Trading Scheme of carbon dioxide and legislation tackling with emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases. The development of wind energy is one of the measures to be implemented, and leads to the limitations of air emissions and an increase of production of energy from renewable resources. The main benefit is that wind turbines convert the wind’s kinetic energy to electricity, while producing none of the emissions to the air. Conventional energy sources, mainly based on various types of coal incineration, when producing energy generate emissions of greenhouse gases, SO2, dust and others. The wind energy is considered to be one of the cleanest ones, in fact, during the exploitation phase of the turbines no pollutants are emitted to the atmosphere. According to the EIA report, the expected annual energy production will amount approximately 80 000 MWh.

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Therefore the environmental benefit of the project will be to reduce greenhouse gases emission in an amount of 51 040 tons (calculated based on an emission factor, representative for projects supplying additional electricity to the grid, as of 0.638 tCO2/MWh, produced for Poland in 2012) per year. The development will also help the country to meet the national plan to achieve 15% share of renewable energy use in total energy consumption by 2015.

Apart from saving the greenhouse gases emission, the project will also result with significant

“avoidance” of post-combustion emissions. As an example, the equivalent production of

electricity by the largest Polish hard-coal power plant in Kozienice would result with the

following emissions (estimations based on Elektrownia Kozienice emission factors for 2011)

PM: approx. 7 tons/year;

SO2: approx. 210 tons/year;

NOx: approx. 137 tons/year.

Exploitation of the subject wind farm can be therefore considered a measure to avoid the

emissions to the atmosphere of the comparable amounts of pollutants.

The issues of social advantages of the project were widely discussed with the representative

of the Orla commune. The following direct advantages were agreed with the representative

during the discussion:

the project will increase income of the commune by taxes paid by the operator for

commercial activities in the area,

the project will increase income of the owners of the land occupied by the wind farm

and its infrastructure;

the project helps the local authorities to promote pro-ecological behavior of the local

citizens;

the development will improve local roads in the commune.

Legislative Context and Public Consultations

The procedure regarding the wind farm location had been commenced by elaboration of

local spatial planning documents including: elaboration of amendments of the the commune

frame development plan (studium kierunków i uwarunkowań zagospodarowania

przestrzennego) and development of the Local Zoning Plan (miejscowy plan

zagospodarowania przestrzennego). The procedure was conducted by the authorities,

following the rules of the Act on Spatial Planning and Development of March 27, 2003 (with

further amendments). The procedure involved among others obtaining positive opinions from

the Regional Directorate of Environmental Protection (RDEP) in Białystok. The State

Sanitary and Epidemiological Inspectorate in Białystok and the State County Sanitary

Inspectorate in Bielsk Podlaski also positively consulted the project. Respective

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announcements on the amendments were available for the public, including publication of

the enouncements in local newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Białystok.

According to environmental regulations: Regulation on disclosure on environmental information, public participation in environment protection and on environmental impact assessments, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure must be performed for projects which can always significantly impact the environment (group I projects) or particular ones which can potentially impact the environment (group II projects), or may impact an area of ‘Natura 2000’ protected land. An EIA is carried out to obtain a decision on Environmental Conditions (environmental decision) which is obligatory for a realization of an individual project. In the administrative procedure for the project the Authorities obligated the Investor to prepare an EIA report. Information on the planned investment together with EIA Reports were made available for comments of the public, including local communities and potential interested parties, such as nature protection bodies and ecological organizations. On March 4, 2009 the Orla Commune Head issued a note informing on the commenced proceedings regarding issuing the decision on environmental conditions for the Orla wind farm. The note was published on the official notice board along with copies on notice boards in the commune villages and was available at the commune office. The time period for filing complaints or comments: 7 days since the date of publishing the note. Following completion of the environmental impact Assessment by the investor, the Orla Commune Head on July 27, 2009, issued a note informing about the proceedings and public consultations. The note was published on the official notice board along with copies on notice boards in the commune villages and was available at the commune office. The time period for filing complaints or comments: 21 days since the date of publishing the note. Following the preparation of the EIA reports, the Orla Commune Head issued on October 21, 2009 the decision on environmental conditions of the Orla wind farm project. To complete the administrative procedure the Authorities issued a notice informing on the decision on environmental conditions of the Orla wind farm project. Similarly, the note was published on the official notice board along with copies on notice boards in the local commune villages and was available at the commune office. The time period for filing complaints or comments: 14 days since the date of publishing the note, after which the notice was deemed effective. The key environmental conditions and comments resulting from the environmental decision are:

The avifauna monitoring at the site was not completed for a full-year period and its methodology was poorly described in the report. Such procedure was assessed as not meeting the national and EU standards for birds and bats monitoring. As a mitigation measure the developer was obliged to pass another environmental impact assessment process before the project is granted a building permit. To date the developer elaborated environmental impact assessment report, its findings and conclusions are incorporated in this non-technical summary.

to comply with the regulation on maximal environmental noise levels;

to perform environmental noise monitoring within 3 months after start-up of the wind farm operation;

to limit operation of the farm in case significant number of birds are observed during migration periods.

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In October 2012 the second environmental impact assessment was conducted by RDOS in Białystok as part of an administrative procedure aimed at an issuance of building permit. The assessment was conducted in line with respective legal obligations and included public consultations managed by Starosta Bialski and consulting State Sanitary Inspectorate in Bielsk Podlaski. The major obligations resulted from the second EIA process are:

not to conduct construction works at the eastern part of the site during the birds breeding period (between March 1 and July 31);

to move one of the turbines by approximately 30 m in order to secure 200 m buffer zone between the turbine and a nearby road and trees growing there;

to conduct construction works between sunrise and sunset only;

to undertake 3-years long monitoring of birds and bats.

What is the current condition of the existing environment?

The planned wind farm is located away from environmentally sensitive areas. The nearest are situated at a distance of 7 -10 km from the site and include:

Landscape Protection Zone (LPZ) “Puszcza Białowieska”, Natura 2000 protection zone No.

PLH 200021 “Ostoja w Dolinie Górnego Nurca”; Natura 2000 protection zone No. PLH

200019 “Jelonka”; Natura 2000 protection zone No. PLB 200004 “Dolina Dolnego Nurca”;

Nature Reserve “Czechy Orlańskie”, Natura 2000 protection zone No. PLH 200015 “Murawy

w Haćkach”, Nature Reserve “Jelonka”,

The wind farm area was screened in June 2009 for presence of valuable flora and fauna

habitats. No such habitats were identified at the planned locations of WTGs or supporting

infrastructure, although two protected flora species (Viburnum opulus and groundpine -

Lycopodium clavatum) were identified in the project development area. Also wild mammals

tracks (e.g. roe deer and boar) as well as various amphibians (e.g. frogs) and insects were

identified in the area. Potential impact of the wind farm on flora and these kind of fauna was

assessed by the EIA reports as insignificant.

Below you will find a map presenting distance of the GWT locations (black dots) to the

nearest nature protection areas (source: Raport o oddziaływaniu na środowisko

przedsięwzięcia: budowa farmy wiatrowej Orla)

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Birds and bats issues

As a part of the pre-investment process, including preparation of the EIA reports, a year-long

monitoring of birds and bats was perfumed, consisting of two independent series

of ornithological observations, completed as part of the two environmental impact

assessment reports. The birds monitoring was conducted in the period between November

2008 and November 2009 and bats monitoring between March and November 2009, and

additionally in January 2012.

The monitoring of birds comprised transect and point observations, the intensity of which

depended on the part of the year. During the winter and autumn season, only transect

observations were undertaken, while during other periods both transect and point

observations were completed. The monitoring program included in total more than 30 field

campaigns (26 during the spring, summer and autumn season and approximately every 10

days during the winter). The quantities of birds identified during the monitoring are typical for

the Polish territory and do not deviate from those reported for other parts of the country.

Based on the monitoring results, the site was not identified as an ecological corridor

of national or regional scale for migrating birds, however, identified numerous flights of large

flocks of geese and plovers gold may indicate existence of an ecological corridor of a local

nature.

The most valuable species observed at the site are these listed in the Annex I to the Bird

directive: crane, corncrake, quail, partridge, ortolan, bunting, lapwing, starling, hoopoe,

sparrow, tree sparrow, marsh harrier, Montagu's harrier, skylark, Great Grey Shrike, Red-

backed Shrike. It was a few nests of these species observed, with except for skylark, which

was found to nest intensively in the area.

Within a 2.5 km zone around the farm the following predator birds were identified: buzzard,

goshawk, sparrow hawk, marsh harrier, Montagu's harrier, Eurasian hobby. Most valuable of

these is the Montagu's harrier regularly observed in the study area. One pair is likely to nest

in the zone and another 3 pairs outside of it. Other large birds identified as nesting in the

area are stork and crane.

During point observations, the researchers observed number and species of flying birds, as

well as flight altitude (in ranges 0-20 m, 20-50 m, 50-200 m and above 200 m) and direction.

The report provides information on number of observed flights and dominant direction, and

general information about dominant flight altitudes. The flight altitude up to 50 m (i.e. below

lower range of WTGs’ blades) is indicated in the report as dominant for local and long

distance flights.

The general conclusion presented in the report was that the wind farm will not generate

extensive impact on birds, the overall likelihood of negative impact was assessed as low

to medium.

The monitoring of bats comprised of field, transect observations, during which noise

detection was carried out. Three species of bats were identified in the area, including

serotine bat, common noctule, and barbastelle.

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These were observed flying along trees and roadsides. For detected bats an activity index

was calculated following the guidelines for assessment of wind turbines on bats. For most of

the transects the bats activities established based on activity indexes was small to medium,

except for five transects, on which bats activity was seasonally large. These transects are

located away from the planned WTGs locations.

During the summer period, additional search for a daily stay areas of bats was completed.

Such were identified in the villages of Orla, Spiczki and Koszele. During the winter season,

the area was researched for bats hibernation places. No hibernating bats were identified.

Taking into account results of the birds and bats monitoring, it was assessed that potential

impact of the planned wind farm on these is low to medium.

Social impacts

The project has direct socio-economic impacts on development of the Orla commune and

local inhabitants. The following direct impacts have been identified:

increase of the commune tax income;

increase of the annual income of land leasers;

improvement of the local communication routes (approximately 10 km of local roads

have already been constructed or remodeled by the Company);

Development of the Project will not require any displacement of the people or business. The

negative impact is related to decrease of the land area used for agricultural purposes,

however, this will be compensated by the land lease fees.

What impacts during construction will there be?

The main impacts of the projects associated with the wind farm development relate to earth works (primarily during setting of foundations for the towers), construction works and increased transport traffic and include intrusion and disturbance within soils strata, temporary change of groundwater level (when groundwater draining is required during the construction), increased noise and vibration. To limit the impact the investor is obliged to undertake numbers of measure as:

to use construction equipment of good technical state: complying with noise and exhaust fumes abatement levels and in order to limit potential impact on soil and groundwater quality resulting from potential fuel/oil leakages;

to reduce noise emissions during the investments, construction works which could cause excessive noise emissions should be reserved for daytime;

to comply with environmental noise standards

to conduct waste management in line with the provisions of Waste Act and local commune regulations.

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What will be the impacts during operation?

Completed investigations and public consultations conducted primarily as part of the environmental impact assessments procedure identified that main environmental impacts associated with the operation of the wind farm refer to increased noise levels, change in the landscape and influence on avifauna and bats.

Noise generation

Noise emission is considered as one of the most common environmental impacts generated

by wind farms. For the purpose of noise impact assessment, a numerical modeling of noise

distribution was conducted as part of the EIA reports. Noise distribution calculations were

conducted with use of a dedicated software, compliant with EU directive 2002/49/WE of

relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise. The calculations were

conducted for maximum acoustic power of the Nordex WTGs (106 dB) in a 20x20 m

receptor grid and at the borders of the acoustically protected areas - residential areas of

Spiczki, Topczykały, Antonowo, Krywiatycze and Orla villages. The calculation results were

then verified against permissible noise levels (55 db(A) and 45 db(A) for daytime and

nighttime respectively).

The results of calculations indicated that the operation of the wind farms will not cause the

breaches of the ambient noise standards at any of the acoustically protected areas both

during the daytime and nighttime, and that the maximum noise levels at these areas borders

will vary between 30.9 and 41.7 dB(A).It should be mentioned here, that the Nordex N100

WTGs can be operated with reduced noise emission, which together with positive noise

distribution calculation results should secure the noise standards to be kept at the protected

areas.

The maps illustrating the calculated acoustic climate, (with visible isolines of 35, 40 ,45 and 50 dB) are presented below (source: Raport o oddziaływaniu na środowisko przedsięwzięcia: budowa farmy wiatrowej Orla).

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Birds and bats

The location of 15 WTGs will create some threat to birds and bats. Nevertheless it should be pointed out that a number of observations and reports on active wind farms and its impact on birds populations indicates that birds avoid collisions with wind farms. The number of deaths of birds resulting from collisions with wind turbines is significantly smaller than those caused by collisions with e.g. cars, power lines and houses.

To recognize the local birds populations and undertake applicable measures during the

planning stage the investor has conducted a number of ornithological observation at the

areas of the planned wind farm. In a view of the pre-investments monitoring results the

identified avifauna was classified as a typical for the Polish territory and does not deviate

from those reported for other parts of the country.

Based on the monitoring results, the site was not identified as an ecological corridor of

national or regional scale for migrating birds, however, identified numerous flights of large

flocks of geese and plovers gold may indicate existence of an ecological corridor of a local

nature. The flight altitude up to 50 m (i.e. below lower range of WTGs’ blades) is indicated in

the report as dominant for local and long distance flights.

Taking into account the results of the birds and bats monitoring, it was assessed that

potential impact of the planned wind farm on these is low to medium.

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Landscape

The wind farm will be developed in purely agricultural area i.e. local landscape has already

been influenced by humans. Construction of the wind farm will introduce new visual

dominants (WTGs and newly constructed roads) to the landscape. Several cultural heritage

registered as historical monuments objects are located in the project area of influence,

including: urban layout of the Orla village; orthodox church of 19th century in Orla; cemetery

orthodox church of 19th century in Orla; synagogue of 17th century in Orla; orthodox

cemetery of 18th century; three small bridges of the beginning of 29th century on the road

Orla-Krywiatyczne.

Based on the on-site observations, the WTGs will likely be visible from long distance, due to

a relatively flat terrain in the area. However, impact on above mentioned historical

monuments will be rather limited, as tall objects, such as churches, were not observed by

the auditor to be visible from the site.

As landscape dominants, WTGs will be visible mostly to local inhabitants and in less extent

also to travelers using local asphalt roads. For the latter, no cumulative visual impact can be

expected as no other developments of similar character are currently under development in

the Orla and surrounding communes, and the site is not crossed by any major roads.

As presented in the EIA reports, the visual impact of the wind turbines will be reduced by

implementation of the following measures recommended by the European Wind Energy

Association:

use of the same WTG type at the entire wind farm and application of an uniform

finishing (the Nordex turbines are painted in an anti-reflex paint, which reduces

gleaming);

placing no fences around the WTGs;

as far as possible, planning necessary access roads along existing ones;

use of underground cabling.

The rotating blades of the turbine may cause the shadow flicker effect. Such impact impacts

have been mentioned in the EIA reports, however, without a detailed assessment. Based on

the literature review, the EIA authors concluded that such effect causes nuisance in

a distance of 400-500 m from WTG, thus will not be an issue of concern at the subject wind

farm.

Measure Aiming at Limitation of the Impact

The main measure which may be used to prevent significant environmental impact of a wind farm is a good choice of the location. Thus, during the project preparation different locations of wind turbines have been analyzed. Preparation of the investment, apart from technological and economic issues such as winds characteristics and costs of land purchase and use, have taken into account the following issues, important from the perspective of environmental protection:

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existing land development and use, including distribution of residential housing, forests, farming lands, protected objects;

mutual impact of individual objects on each other, including also possible adding up of sound waves,

necessity of protecting the objects of residential housing against noise.

location from the perspective of birds and bats protection,

The second aspect of choice, very important from the point of view of environmental protection, was the choice of the producer and supplier of the equipment. The investor has chosen modern installations minimal level of emitted noise. In summary it may be stated, the layout of wind turbines has been planned in that way to achieve the following goals:

to be located out of nature and landscape protected areas,

not to disturb the continuity of ecological corridors,

not to exceed the binding environmental noise quality standards,

Post construction monitoring

Noise

The environmental decision conditions oblige the investor to conduct a post construction noise level measurements and impact on the acoustically protected areas within 3 months after start-up of the wind farm operation. If the measurements indicate that permissible noise levels are exceeded, then noise reducing action will be necessary to be completed (i.e. reduction of the acoustic power of the subject wind turbine(s) or its temporary disconnection especially during the nighttime are should be considered).

Birds and Bats

The post construction monitoring of birds and bats was suggested by the environmental decision and then was also requested as the developers obligation by RDOS in Białystok, who conducted the second environmental impact assessment of the project. The monitoring is to be conducted for 3 years after completion of the construction works. The bats monitoring should be aimed at research of bats mortality (search for dead bats in the vicinity of wind turbines) and bats activity at the blades high. Should significant bats mortality is detected, the monitoring program should be continued for the consecutive 3 years and the developer will be obliged to develop and introduce appropriate bats protection measures. The monitoring of birds shall include research of birds mortality and birds distribution and species composition with use of the same methodology as during the pre-investment monitoring program. Both birds and bats monitoring results will be reported to RDOS in Białystok.

Environmental and Social Action Plan

The developer is a newly created company which will manage construction of the wind farm

and later its operations. As reported, all construction and operational tasks will be

outsourced to certified and reputable companies. In order to meet the EBRD Performance

Requirements as per Environmental and Social Policy (2008) and IFC Performance

Standards as per International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards on Social and

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Environmental Sustainability (2006), the company will need to establish and maintain

a management structure for environmental, health and safety and social issues

management, as well as establish certain procedures and rules applying to service providers

with respect to preparation and maintaining a program for monitoring of the construction

works and then operation of the wind farm. It is proposed to develop a set of Key

Performance Indicators (KPI) to monitor environmental, H&S and social matters during

construction works and then operation of the wind farm. The KPIs should include but not be

limited to: number and type of events that could affect environment during construction

works; number and type of H&S accidents during construction works; number and type of

events that could affect communities within the influence area of undertaken construction

works and cargo deliveries; environmental emissions (including types and amounts of

generated wastes) of the wind farm during its exploitation; number and type of H&S

accidents affecting employees of the wind farm operator; number and type of accidents

affecting external individuals and causing damages; number of third party grievances due to

shadow flicker effect, electromagnetic impacts, noise and other impacts generated by

operating wind farm.

It has been proposed to develop procedures for reporting on the project status to lenders

and disclosure of information to external stakeholders. Annual reports to lenders should

present among others: status of the project implementation; key performance indicators,

summary of submitted grievances and description of how these have been addressed;

summary of stakeholders engagement activities; environmental monitoring results and

discussion; summary of actions undertaken to improve EHSS performance of the wind farm;

summary of any EHSS legislative changes that may affect the project.

After completion of the construction works it has been proposed to undertake environmental

monitoring in line with requirements of environmental decision and the above mentioned

recommendations inclusive of: noise impact; impact on birds (three years as a minimum);

impact on bats (three years as a minimum). Should monitoring results indicate excessive

impact of the wind farm develop and implement appropriate mitigation plan.

Additional information and grievance procedure

The mechanism for the claim procedure will be implemented by the company as part of the

project management system. The procedure assigns a coordinator of the integrated system,

who will be responsible for reacting in case of complaints.

All requests for additional information related to the Wind farm should be addressed to the Environmental Specialist of the C&C WindSp. z o.o.: Mr. Krzysztof Łudczak Tel: +48 533 34 00 66 Email: krzysztof.ludczak@pec-poland.com Project Development Coordination Officer: Mrs. Magdalena Stefanik Tel: +48 512 643 493 Email: magda.stefanik@cerac.eu