According to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court, the federal states may not generally ban wind turbines in the forest. A wind power taboo in forest areas is “incompatible with the Basic Law and therefore void,” according to a decision by the Karlsruhe judges published on Thursday. The verdict had become necessary because private forest owners had lodged a constitutional complaint against a prohibition passage in the Thuringian Forest Act, which was amended at the end of 2020. They wanted to clear forest areas that had been severely damaged by the bark beetle and use them for wind power. The Thuringian Forest Act stood in the way of this.
The Karlsruhe decision has a signal effect, because other federal states also ban wind turbines in forest areas. A study by the scientific service of the Bundestag in August states: “The use of forest sites for wind energy is currently permitted in six federal states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.” In North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony it is possible to a limited extent. According to the Ministry of Climate Protection, most wind turbines in the forest are in Mainz in Rhineland-Palatinate: 475.
Thuringia’s Environment Minister welcomes the verdict
The constitutional court justified its decision with the fact that a total ban on wind power interferes with the constitutionally protected property rights of forest owners. In addition, the Free State of Thuringia lacks the legislative competence for such a ban because the federal government has also made legal regulations in this area. The right to land is called.
Federal states could use their legislative powers to put forest areas under protection for nature conservation and landscape management, provided they are worthy of protection because of their ecological function, their location or their beauty. A general protection requirement for undeveloped nature and landscape is not sufficient for this. As a rule, wind turbines are located in locations that are severely damaged or already treeless after bark beetle infestation, drought and storms – so-called calamity areas.
Thuringia’s Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund (Greens) welcomed the verdict. It solves a blockage “that has unnecessarily held us up for too long in the energy transition”. She added: “We must now change the forest law as soon as possible.” The regulation was written into law two years ago, mainly at the urging of the opposition CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament, as a kind of compromise because Bodo Ramelow’s red-red-green minority coalition was dependent on CDU votes for the budget.
The decision of the constitutional judges is significant in view of the new federal law “Wind-an-Land-Gesetz”. According to this, by the end of 2032, two percent of the nationwide land area must be designated for wind energy. According to the federal government, it is only 0.8 percent so far – and only 0.5 percent is actually available. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) recently called on the federal states to make greater efforts: “There are currently too few viable projects.” According to experts, the judgment from Karlsruhe could contribute to more speed in the sluggish expansion of wind power in Germany.