Military radar | German industry fears new restrictions for wind turbines
New rule discussed in parliament could grant army right to block up to a third of country’s territory for wind power
Germany’s wind industry is concerned about new restrictions due to a rule being discussed in parliament that would give the military the right to veto turbines within 50 kilometres of military radars.
The distance around the country’s 18 military radars could in theory block great parts of Germany’s territory for wind power, wind energy federation BWE warned.
“Two percent of the federal area for wind energy is the minimum target necessary to achieve the expansion specified in the EEG [Renewable Energies Act],” BWE president Bärbel Heidebroek said.
“Providing the 18 military radars in Germany with a test radius of 50 kilometres each would result in a huge loss of land - a good third of the entire federal territory would no longer be available for wind energy, including particularly windy areas on the coasts.
“It is urgently important to prevent this, otherwise the expansion will be in jeopardy.”
The rule is being discussed in the Bundestag’s transportation committee today as part of a new law to speed up permitting.
In its current form, the rule would give the armed forces the right to block building structures on the mere assumption that they could disrupt ‘stationary military facilities for the control of flight operations’ – proof of a malfunction would not even have to be provided.
Even if Germany’s army, the Bundeswehr, were to only examine the radii but not categorically reject them, a new ‘bureaucratic monster’ would be created affecting hundreds of planned wind turbine installations per year, the BWE cautioned.
Currently, only 0.47% of Germany’s territory has been allocated for wind energy, far lower than the 2% the government targets for 2032 to reach its onshore wind expansion goals.
“There is no reason to provide additional protection for military radars under the Civil Aviation Act. The protection of these systems is already sufficient with the corresponding regulations in the building code,” Heidebroek said, adding that the BWE has not been consulted in the run-up of the legislation.
The transport ministry is led by the neo-liberal Free Democrats (FDP), who have been slowing down the impetus for an expansion of wind power and other renewables of their Green Party coalition partner.
(Copyright)