An agreement between Germany’s 16 states on standardising bird protection laws for onshore wind planning applications will not help to speed up project approval, according to a coalition of energy associations.
The groups – BDEW, BEE, BNE, BWE, VDMA and VKU – said the framework is not practical and does not make a significant contribution to removing the obstacles currently slowing permitting.
“Unfortunately, the presented paper fails to make the expansion of wind energy much easier in the future,” the groups said.
Project approval needs to be speeded up if Germany is to reach its 65% renewables target by 2030, they said.
The groups said that nationwide uniform regulations based on existing case law and established scientific criteria are still missing.
“A practical test framework that creates reliability and predictability is required quickly,” the groups added.
A positive development, the associations said, is that the environment ministers have recognised the need for further development and have convened a federal-state working group with the participation of the industry groups.
“The energy associations are ready for this dialogue,” they said.