Surprising result for wind power: the majority of Bavarians want the 10H rule to be abolished

Created: 09/26/2022, 19:45

By: Anna Lorenz

Bavaria must designate areas for wind turbines - a controversial issue in the state parliament.

A representative survey was carried out on behalf of the Greens, which brought surprising results.

Munich – For a long time, the 10H rule was unavoidable for the construction of wind turbines for the purpose of generating energy.

The regulation, which states that wind turbines must be at least ten times their height from the nearest settlement, now has exceptions.

According to a survey, Bavarian citizens would even go one step further – and completely abolish the regulation.

10H rule: the majority of Bavarians voted to abolish the distance requirement for wind turbines

By 2026, Bavaria is obliged to designate 1.1 percent of its state area as priority areas for wind turbines, and by 2032 it should be 1.8 percent.

The value in Bavaria is currently just under 0.7 percent.

After the CSU had long rejected any relaxation of the 10H rule, it changed its stance months ago and advocated exceptions.

For example, the 10H rule no longer applies along motorways or rail networks, or wherever there are already wind turbines.

According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute Civey, more than half of the people in Bavaria even want the controversial 10H distance rule to be completely abolished.

In the survey, which was carried out on behalf of the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament, 54.4 percent of those questioned stated that they were in favor of abolition by saying "definitely" or "rather yes".

On the other hand, only 38.1 percent voted “definitely not” or “rather no” with regard to lifting the 10H rule.

This result seems surprising, as there is not only a lack of suitable areas for wind energy in many places, but also seldom protests against concrete construction projects.

Survey on the 10H rule in Bavaria: is the windmill wave coming now?

– “Message is clear”

"The message is clear and unambiguous: Away with 10H, immediately and completely," Green parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann interpreted the survey result and called for an immediate "booster for wind energy in the Free State" as the "only logical step" in order to "long-term to ensure a safe, independent and cost-effective power supply for Bavaria".

He refers back to almost 63 percent of those surveyed who were convinced that Bavaria needed more wind turbines to become climate-neutral by 2040.

Goodbye 10H: In Bavaria, people are voting for wind energy without distance regulations.

(Iconic image) © Julian Stratenschulte/dpa

The regional distributions in the survey results are interesting: while in the rest of Bavaria, 62.5 to 66.4 percent of those surveyed said wind power was necessary for the purpose of a successful energy transition, in Lower Bavaria it was only 54.3 percent.

It is not known to what extent knowledge of the specific design and functioning of a wind turbine was decisive for these differences.

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When asked about the abolition of the 10H rule, the Swabians were the most cautious, with 50.4 percent saying yes, in Lower Franconia, however, 57.1 percent and in Upper Bavaria 56.4 percent of those surveyed agreed.

The extent to which the newly obtained results will influence the Bavarian debate between the opposition and the government could already be seen on Tuesday (September 27) during the next plenary session.

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