Standardization and Nature Conservation – Photovoltaics and Hybrid Projects

Research question / project objectives

The project aims to develop professionally derived proposals for standardizations and simplifications that make it easier to apply impact mitigation rules (Eingriffsregelung) and species protection law to PV projects, without lowering the level of nature conservation protection.

The background is the rapid growth of ground-mounted PV installations (PV-FFA) and agrivoltaics. Impact mitigation rules are applied differently depending on the federal state, the approval procedure and the type of installation. This leads to legal uncertainty, unequal compensation requirements and high review effort. At the same time, new questions are coming to the fore: the use of mown material from area maintenance, the handling of ecologically upgraded areas during repowering and dismantling, and the cumulative effects of combined wind-PV sites.

The project covers the entire life cycle of the installation: impact mitigation rules during construction, use of green waste and maintenance material, end of operating life with repowering and dismantling, and the specific effects of hybrid wind and PV projects.

The results are intended to form the basis for federal statutory and subordinate regulatory needs for clarification.

Approach

The project combines detailed nature conservation expertise, legal classification and practical understanding of permitting. Methodologically, it relies on structured document and literature analysis and a systematic state-by-state and procedure screening based on uniform review and assessment matrices.

Typical case constellations are used to work through standardization options in concrete terms. The developed proposals are tested against a uniform assessment framework covering protective effect, practicability of enforcement, effort and legal compatibility, and are mirrored against the European and national legal framework.

Expert interviews, a specialist workshop and a project-accompanying working group with stakeholders from administration, practice, science and associations ensure practical applicability.

The outcome should be robust, enforceable standardization elements that accelerate review and approval procedures, increase the traceability of review decisions and, at the same time, safeguard the level of nature conservation protection.