Germany plans to require its states to allocate land for wind farms

Germany's cabinet on Wednesday approved plans to require its 16 states to allocate a minimum amount of land to onshore wind farms, government sources said, as Berlin strives to meet its renewable energy targets. The ruling coalition parties aim to introduce the draft law to the Bundestag lower house of parliament before the end of the month and for it to enter into force in early 2023, according to the draft bill approved by the cabinet.


Reuters | Berlin | Updated: 15-06-2022 15:52 IST | Created: 15-06-2022 15:34 IST
Germany plans to require its states to allocate land for wind farms
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Germany's cabinet on Wednesday approved plans to require its 16 states to allocate a minimum amount of land to onshore wind farms, government sources said, as Berlin strives to meet its renewable energy targets.

The ruling coalition parties aim to introduce the draft law to the Bundestag lower house of parliament before the end of the month and for it to enter into force in early 2023, according to the draft bill approved by the cabinet. The legislation is intended to implement the government's goal of ensuring states set aside 2% of their land for wind power by 2032, with an interim target of 1.4% in 2026.

Under the plan, if states fail to meet the targets by certain deadlines, the government would suspend rules on how far away from residential areas wind farms must be built, which in practice has often slowed down the expansion of wind energy. Germany aims to obtain 80% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030, with a goal to increase the capacity of onshore wind power to 115 gigawatts - equivalent to the capacity of 38 nuclear plants.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has increased pressure on Berlin to speed up its green transition and diversify its energy sources to bolster the security of supplies.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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