The expansion of renewable energies has to go faster. This applies above all to wind power in Baden-Württemberg. The country therefore wants to plan and approve faster. The judiciary should help.
Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – In order to shorten the backlog in wind power and to speed up the approval process for the construction of wind turbines, a special senate has been set up at the Administrative Court in Mannheim. The so-called Infrastructure Senate should not only be able to deal with wind power, but also with railway projects, among other things. The state government had discussed such a step with a panel of experts on climate protection (“Task Force”). The Senate is an important contribution by the judiciary to speeding up the process of large-scale projects, said State Justice Minister Marion Gentges (CDU).
“In a European comparison, German infrastructure projects take longer than in other countries,” she said. However, lengthy procedures are already a locational disadvantage in international competition. However, the courts alone cannot solve this problem.
In the future, all disputes about the construction, operation or changes to wind turbines in Baden-Württemberg with a total height of more than 50 meters will end up before the administrative court. Unlike in the past, the court is not only responsible as an appeal instance. In the future, the new Senate will normally have three professional judges, and five professional judges in the case of judicial review procedures.
Baden-Württemberg is lagging behind when it comes to expanding wind power. The state is therefore trying to shorten the planning and approval period for wind turbines. The target is the construction of up to 1000 new wind turbines. With the expansion of green electricity from wind and sun, climate goals are to be achieved and dependence on fossil energies such as Russian gas reduced.
