Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – Saxony-Anhalt’s Energy Minister Armin Willingmann (SPD) has confirmed the state government’s plans to also include commercial forests in achieving the wind power targets. All options would have to be examined, said Willingmann on Thursday in the state parliament. “We’re not talking about the beautiful, good, green, German forest where you stay for recreational purposes. And above all, we’re talking about the question of whether we can use fallow land.”
According to Willingmann, wind turbines are particularly suitable for areas in commercial forests where forest conversion will be necessary in the near future. The state government is currently in the process of coordinating the expansion of wind power. The new federal law means there is a lot of time pressure overall, said the SPD politician.
In Germany, electricity generation from wind power and sun is to be increased significantly. To this end, the Bundestag has passed an extensive legislative package. The share of electricity generated from renewable energies in electricity consumption is to be increased to at least 80 percent by 2030; it is currently just under 50 percent.
To this end, the Federal Government intends to set legally binding area targets for the federal states for wind power in the future. Different requirements should apply due to the different requirements. Area targets of 1.8 percent by 2026 and 2.2 percent by 2032 are planned for Saxony-Anhalt – and thus more than in some other states.
Willingmann said in the summer that he thought it was possible for Saxony-Anhalt to meet the new requirements. At that time, around 1.08 percent of the country’s area was secured for the use of wind energy. On a further 0.7 percent, wind turbines are located outside of designated priority or suitable areas – they currently do not count as a contribution to the area target.
