Dhe federal states will have to provide significantly more land for wind power in the future. On Wednesday in Berlin, the federal cabinet launched a draft law that would designate a total of 1.4 percent of the federal area for wind power in Germany in 2026 and the two percent target should be achieved in 2032.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that federal states in which the wind blows more strongly would have to achieve a share of 2.2 percent and others only 1.8 percent. Other criteria are the population density or the size of nature reserves. City states would have to provide 0.5 percent of their area.
According to the federal government, two percent of the land area in Germany should be usable for wind power in eight years. However, in many places there is a lack of available space. According to Habeck, only around 0.8 percent of the federal area is currently designated for onshore wind energy, and only 0.5 percent is actually available.
Size of the nature reserves play a role
Habeck said in Berlin that the main thing was “wind chances”, i.e. the question of how much wind was blowing in the different regions. The size of the nature reserves in the respective federal state, the density of settlement and other factors also played a role.
The federal states can also regulate with each other by means of a state treaty that one of them can designate more areas and thus assume the obligations of the other. Compensation can also be agreed for this. According to the draft, the targets must be met by December 31, 2032. An interim target has already been set for the end of 2026.
Habeck expects that the cabinet decisions “will trigger concerns, resistance or fears in many regions”. These must be taken seriously, but they should not block the overall expansion target.
Public participation in wind turbines should bring added value
The minister also promoted models in which the citizens or the municipalities are involved in the wind turbines. Wind power brings “added value for the people in the regions if you do it wisely”. In addition, renewables are increasingly proving to be a locational advantage when companies settle there.
In order to achieve the newly defined goals, the federal government is also shaking up the state opening clause, which has so far allowed the states to set a minimum distance of up to one kilometer between wind turbines and residential areas. Such clauses should continue to be possible; However, the requirements would be “inapplicable in the event that the target is missed,” says the draft.
Special rules of the countries make the expansion more difficult
Some countries have particularly strict special rules. The so-called 10H rule applies in Bavaria: When building new wind turbines, a minimum distance of ten times the system height to the nearest residential area must be maintained. In Thuringia, wind energy in the forest was completely forbidden.
According to the law, by 2035 electricity in Germany should be generated almost entirely from renewable energies and thus be almost greenhouse gas neutral. Among other things, it is legally anchored that renewable energies are “in the overriding public interest” and serve public safety.
This gives them a higher priority in the so-called weighing of interests. In this way, areas can be gained for wind power that are already designated but blocked by other “protected assets”. Protected goods include animals, plants, water, monuments and human health. The cabinet also initiated a reform of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, which is intended to simplify the species protection test for wind turbines.
