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. However, the minimum distance can be deviated from when it comes to 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 consider 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.
