For faster construction of more wind turbines, the federal government wants to make the states more responsible. In Saxony, a 1000 meter distance rule was decided just a few days ago. What do the plans mean for the Free State?
Dresden (dpa/sn) – The 1000 meter distance rule for wind turbines to residential buildings decided in Saxony at the beginning of June could be overturned by the federal government in the future if not enough space is made available for wind power expansion. This is what the plans of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the Ministry of Building in Berlin, which went into the departmental vote on Wednesday, provide for this. “Prevention planning” is not acceptable, said Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), with a view to strict regulations in countries on the distance between wind turbines and residential buildings.
In principle, the federal states should be able to set minimum distances from residential buildings of up to 1000 meters, but they must ensure that they achieve statutory area targets, as ministry circles said. If they do not do this, country-specific distance rules should not be applied. The goal is that the construction of new wind turbines should no longer be made more difficult by strict distance rules in the future.
The state parliament in Saxony had changed the Saxon building regulations on June 1st and also sealed the 1000 meter minimum distance between wind turbines and residential buildings. This can be deviated from when it comes to so-called repowering, i.e. the retrofitting of existing systems, or if the distance in the outside area is to be reduced at the request of the municipalities.
With the regulation, Saxony wants to achieve that more areas can be made available for wind power than before. However, the left considers the regulation to be counterproductive in terms of expanding renewable energies.
According to federal plans, Saxony should provide an average area for the expansion of wind power. The goal is a share of the state area of ??1.3 percent by 2026 and a share of 2.0 percent by 2032, according to circles of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and the Ministry of Construction. A legally binding area target of 1.4 percent by 2026 and 2 percent by 2032 should apply nationwide.
According to the assessment of the Saxon Ministry of the Environment, the federal area targets formulated in the draft law would not be achieved with the recently adopted distance rule in the Free State. According to the information, with the 1000 meter rule, 0.7 percent of the country’s area could be used for wind power; currently it is only about 0.2 percent.
Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) meanwhile defended the Saxon way as a good compromise: “We have created social peace here in the Free State of Saxony with a regulation of 1000 meters distance. Other federal states have this too and I think that’s right.” A federal government that is far away should rely to a certain extent on “how the local people see things”. At the same time, Kretschmer warned that a turning point can only succeed if we work together. “The expansion of renewable energies is imperative, but it must be done together with the people.”
