Status: 03/03/2023 12:57 p.m
In order to expand renewable energies more quickly, the Bundestag has decided on simplified procedures. Among other things, fewer environmental assessments are required. There was criticism from conservationists – and the opposition was also angry.
The Bundestag has passed regulations for a faster expansion of renewable energies. The traffic light factions SPD, Greens and FDP voted in favor, the opposition factions of Union, AfD and Left voted against in Berlin. The Federal Council is expected to approve the reform today.
The law goes back to the EU emergency regulation passed in December for the rapid expansion of renewable energies in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine, which is limited to the end of June 2024. The opposition had previously sharply criticized the accelerated legislative process due to the lack of parliamentary participation. Environmentalists warned of “serious consequences” for species protection.
Fewer environmental assessments required
Among other things, the new regulations provide for simpler procedures for the planning and approval of wind turbines on land and at sea, for connection lines for offshore wind farms, for solar systems on open spaces and for the electricity grids.
In this way, tests of environmental compatibility and the effects of wind turbines on species protection can be omitted if a similar investigation has already taken place when the area for wind energy was designated. In the future, authorities will also have to inform the public online about plans.
Opposition: criticism of the implementation
Representatives of the opposition sharply criticized the implementation. After the traffic light factions SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on the new rules at the beginning of the week, a hearing took place on Wednesday for which experts could hardly have prepared. Parallel to this hearing, the vote had already taken place in another committee, several MPs complained.
“Parliament’s right to participate is being trampled on here,” said CDU MP Thomas Gebhart. Such a procedure weakens the acceptance of the law, explained the left MP Susanne Hennig-Wellsow. Katrin Uhlig from the Greens explained the rush by saying that the EU emergency regulation was only valid for 18 months and came into force at the end of December, and Germany had to catch up with the implementation.
Massive criticism from environmentalists
There was also criticism of the content of the project from environmentalists. The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), for example, fears “incalculable risks” for nature. “The rapid implementation of the energy transition is just as important as its environmentally compatible expansion,” explained BUND boss Olaf Bandt.
Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck had assured that species and nature conservation remain important. Accordingly, the authorities must in future ensure that the operators of wind turbines take “appropriate and proportionate avoidance and mitigation measures” and otherwise “pay financial compensation to a species aid program”, according to the Greens politician.
The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) welcomed the reform. The new rules simplified the approval process considerably in some respects, explains the head of the association, Kerstin Andreae. However, the federal government has not fully exhausted the scope of the EU regulation. Further standardization of species protection measures would have been possible and useful.