Bavaria will soon present Habeck with proposals for wind power expansion
Created: 01/20/2022, 12:43 p.m
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (r.) in conversation with the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder.
© Tobias Hase/dpa
Söder thinks it's good that Habeck is relying on dialogue instead of coming up with regulations.
He emphasizes that Bavaria does not want to deviate from its distance regulation for wind turbines.
Munich – In the dispute over the expansion of wind power in Bavaria, the Free State will present proposals by March at the latest on how capacity can be increased despite the controversial distance regulation.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and Federal Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) agreed on this at a meeting on Thursday in Munich.
The so-called 10-H regulation in Bavaria states that wind turbines must be at least ten times their height from residential buildings.
Habeck sees this regulation as the main obstacle to the stuttering expansion of wind power in Bavaria.
Söder considers other obstacles to be more crucial.
Habeck said that the expansion of renewable energies nationwide must be driven by "ecological patriotism".
One must end the "downward cycle" in wind power, where each federal state is trying to be the "biggest inhibitor".
"As Minister for Germany and Minister for Bavaria, I advocate that we face up to what is necessary, for the benefit of the people, society and then the economy in Bavaria," he added.
“We are simply skeptical about the two percent”
"We are ready to talk about exceptions," said Söder.
In principle, it is conceivable to soften the 10-H rule in the state forest, for example.
Söder explained that one could also imagine exceptions when replacing old systems with more modern and more powerful ones, the so-called repowering.
"We'll have to see if that's enough."
With the proposals, Bavaria also wants to put wishes on the table, he announced.
Söder insisted on expanding the energy lines through Germany.
The fact that the Bavarian distance rule is not the decisive factor can be seen from the situation in other federal states such as Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia and Saxony.
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"We believe that more is possible, but wind is not the main possibility in Bavaria," said Söder.
Already, 53 percent of the electricity in Bavaria is generated from renewable energies.
He rejected the demand to make two percent of the country's area available for wind energy.
"We're just skeptical about the two percent," said Söder.
dpa