The German Ministry of Economics has put forward a new proposal that would let the country’s federal states decide whether or not to impose a minimum one kilometre distance rule between new wind farms and the nearest settlements.
Previously the ministry had intended to impose a one km distance rule on a country-wide basis.
A Ministry of Economics spokesperson told reNEWS that the proposal to amend the building code would allow states the leeway to impose the 1km rule, choose a different distance, apply existing regulations or impose no distance regulation at all.
“This is a proposal that gives the states and municipalities the necessary planning scope to secure areas for wind development and at the same time to ensure local acceptance for wind power,” the spokesperson said.
VDMA Power Systems Matthias Zellinger welcomed the proposal to forego the blanket distance rules for wind turbines.
“The availability of space is crucial for the further expansion of wind energy in Germany,” he said.