"Like the parking brake on a car": District Administrator Petz speaks out against 10h

Created: 01/19/2022, 19:00

By: Manuel Eser

A rainbow is in sight for the advocates of wind power: the climate protection minister plans to overturn the 10-hour rule.

(Iconic image) © Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa

Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck wants to overturn the 10H rule in Bavaria.

He gets tail wind for it from the Freising district administrator.

District – For his plan to overturn the 10H rule when building wind turbines, Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck received support from the Freising district administrator.

"The 10H regulation acts like the parking brake on a car when it comes to wind energy expansion," emphasized Helmut Petz when asked by FT.

"Without them, wind energy, which is indispensable for the energy transition, could finally pick up speed in Bavaria."

The 10H regulation, which was introduced in Bavaria in 2014, states that a wind turbine can only be built if the distance to the next building is at least ten times its height.

This usually corresponds to more than two kilometers.

Otherwise there is no privilege under construction planning law.

"The regulation has meant that the expansion of wind energy in Bavaria has practically come to a standstill," Petz notes and becomes clear: "In times when climate protection and the energy transition are our most urgent tasks, this is a political anachronism."

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.

Moritz Strey, energy officer of the district, announces where the potential lies in the district as part of the climate protection concept.

"We can already estimate that there is a lot of potential for the expansion of wind energy in the district."

Citizens should be involved economically

Strey refers to the Energy Atlas of Bavaria, in which, for example, wind power areas are marked in the regional setting that are presumably suitable for wind energy use in the district.

According to Strey, wind energy is essential for the energy transition: “Together with photovoltaics, wind energy is a necessary building block on the way to a fossil-free, CO2-neutral society.”

District Administrator Petz is clear that if 10H is lost, resistance to the construction of wind turbines should form again.

However, the energy transition can only be achieved together.

"We must therefore do everything we can to strengthen the self-interest of the citizens associated with this renewable form of energy and make it visible," explains Petz.

Public participation in the economic yield of wind energy use could help. "Once people realize that they are benefiting from this form of renewable energy generation, acceptance will grow."

District administrator sees protection against emissions guaranteed even without 10H

The lawyer Petz sees the protection of people from unacceptable immissions that emanate from wind turbines, such as noise and shadows, guaranteed even without 10H, namely by the approval requirements of the Federal Immission Control Act. This law also regulates the compatibility of wind turbines with all public concerns, such as landscape and nature conservation.

"Moreover, the municipalities have the option created by the legislature for wind turbines in particular, to designate concentration areas with an exclusion effect for all other municipal areas and thus to control the settlement of wind turbines in a way that is humane and landscape-friendly and politically compatible," explains Petz. "And I think it's obvious that wind turbines, even if they may be perceived by many as a foreign object in the landscape, are much more pleasant than coal-fired power stations or nuclear reactors."

Leon Eckert, a member of the Bundestag for the Greens in Freising, is also pleased with the move by “his” minister.

"The deletion of 10H would finally ignite the wind energy turbo in the region," he says.

"Our region in particular, which is characterized by electricity-intensive industrial companies, would benefit massively from an expansion of wind energy." The addition of plants by community energy cooperatives is "encouraging", but not enough "as the backbone for the energy transition".

Citizen wind turbine brings more than predicted

The citizens' wind turbine in Kammerberg achieved around 6.5 million kilowatt hours in 2021, as reported by the Freisinger Land citizens' energy cooperative.

"That's five percent more than forecast - despite a weak wind year," conclude Andreas Henze and Werner Hillebrand.

"The citizens' wind turbine shows that wind power can also be an important pillar of the energy transition in the district, especially at good locations."