Birds and wind energy use

Appropriately addressing the requirements of nature conservation at all planning levels is an elementary component of every project for the expansion of renewable energies and a particular professional challenge. This applies in particular in view of the necessary legally compliant implementation of European and German species protection law. Against this background, the management of species protection conflicts/problems in the context of wind energy use, in particular with the prohibition of killing and injury of specially protected species in accordance with Section 44 (1) of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, BNatschG, are to be the focus of the project's considerations. The project therefore analyses selected issues in connection with the prediction, assessment and management of conflicts under species protection law in approval procedures for wind energy projects. It is intended to present best practice examples from German federal states and from planning practice and, with an analysis of planning and methodological instruments, to point out feasible ways of dealing with the prohibition of killing and the granting of exemptions from the species protection law in planning and approval procedures.

Methods

Currently available methodological approaches for assessing the "significantly increased risk of killing" are to be recorded and systematised. Based on the evaluation of the different approaches, they are to be assessed from a legal, nature conservation and planning perspective. Existing deficits are to be identified and best practice examples to be highlighted.

Furthermore, the technical and legal prerequisites for a possible species protection exemption procedure (Section 45 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, BNatschG) are to be analysed in a differentiated manner. In this context, the various exemption requirements are to be examined and concrete requirements for their implementation are to be formulated with regard to wind turbines.

REsults