German wind energy association BWE said proposed legislative changes to the Federal Emission Control Act (BImSchG) affecting planning decisions on turbines are “painful” but “ultimately viable” and will avert the risk of far-reaching delays in wind farm expansion.
It said the amendments concerning preliminary approvals for projects outside of existing priority areas for wind development “will have a clarifying effect, particularly for North Rhine-Westphalia, without significantly delaying planning across the country”.
However, the group noted implementing changes to the legal framework after just six months is “painful and unsatisfactory” for project sponsors and authorities.
“The SPD, Union and Greens have found a compromise to control the expansion of wind energy that is ultimately viable,” said BWE president Bärbel Heidebroek (pictured).
“It must be acknowledged that the nationwide legal system for accelerating expansion is not being interfered with.
“In particular, in direct comparison with the draft laws that have been submitted so far, which the BWE had firmly rejected, the compromise represents an improvement.”
Previous draft legislation had sought to interfere with Section 2 of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) – which regulates the priority of renewable energy expansion in the planning balance – leading to approval and investment uncertainty, according to the BWE.
The current approach makes it clear that there is no legitimate interest in applications for preliminary decisions on planning law admissibility under the Federal Building Code if the location is outside of wind energy areas that have already been designated or are already in the planning stage, unless it is a repowering project, the group added.
This prevents areas outside of existing priority areas from being secured. These cases, which have so far mainly occurred in North Rhine-Westphalia, can be effectively limited with this amendment to the BImSchG.
Heidebroek said: “After an initial review of the amendment to the BImSchG, we believe that the risk of a far-reaching delay in expansion has been averted.
“With the compromise, the three parties have made possible a solution that keeps the provision of land across the country on track. There are still open questions, but we can deal with the proposal that is now on the table.”