The approval procedures for the construction of new wind turbines will be significantly accelerated by the German authorities, the German news portal Agrarheute reported on March 2.
The German federal government wants to implement the EU emergency regulation, which came into force at the end of December 2022 and is designed to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy sources. This requires an amendment to the Land Planning Act, which is due to be adopted on March 3 by the Bundestag in second reading.
That same morning, the Federal Council must approve the law. Only in January did the federal cabinet take steps to incorporate the EU state of emergency into national law.
Due to the implementation of the EU emergency regulation, an environmental impact assessment and a species protection legal assessment are no longer required before the construction of a new wind turbine. However, a prerequisite is that a strategic environmental assessment has already been carried out and that there is no specially protected area on the site of the future construction.
The faster and simplified planning and approval procedures are intended to speed up the expansion of onshore wind power in Germany and the EU. In addition, the amendment is intended to improve the link between regional planning and plan approval procedures. Protection measures and compensation are also provided for.
From the perspective of Hermann Albers, president of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), the amendment is the first step towards accelerated approval procedures. Now, in his opinion, this impulse must be maintained and consolidated.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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