Wind energy ramp up and species protection laws

Background

In view of the climate crisis, the German government has set itself the goal of increasing the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption to at least 80% by 2030. This goes hand in hand with, among other things, the urgent need for the rapid expansion of onshore wind energy. In addition to the two percent target for land provision, the approval process for wind turbines is to be significantly accelerated.

The Fourth Act Amending the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) of 20 July 2022 initially standardised species protection assessments across Germany. Sections 45b, c and d of the BNatSchG, in conjunction with Annexes 1 and 2, set out specific provisions for the operation of onshore wind turbines.

In addition, on 22 March 2023, the Bundestag passed an amendment to the Spatial Planning Act to implement the EU Emergency Regulation (Regulation EU 2022/2577), which also introduces corresponding provisions in the Wind Energy Area Requirements Act (WindBG). This is intended to further accelerate the procedures for expanding renewable energies and electricity grids. The amendments to the WindBG raise a whole series of questions regarding the concrete implementation in practice for the planning and approval of wind turbines.

Furthermore, the Renewable Energy Directive EU 2018/2001 (RED) was amended by Amendment Directive EU 2023/2413, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 October 2023. This also pursues the goal of significantly increasing the current rate of expansion of energy from renewable sources.

The aim of the project was to examine the various amendments, interpret them and specify the new regulations in order to facilitate the manageability of the regulations in their implementation at the planning and approval level.

Contents

Provisions of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) – classification and recommendations for implementation

The focus of the considerations was on the requirements for assessing the prohibition of killing in the operation of wind turbines under Section 45 b of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG). This involved an examination of the selection of collision-prone breeding birds, the concept of breeding sites and the handling of the proximity and inspection areas. Furthermore, the protective measures set out in Annex 1 were described and classified in terms of their effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility.

Reasonableness of protective measures according to Annex 2 BNatSchG and Section 6 WindBG

The legal provisions under Section 45b BNatSchG and Section 6 WindBG impose new requirements on the planning of protective measures for the approval of onshore wind turbines. According to these provisions, protective measures for birds and bats are only permissible if the monetary losses associated with the measures do not exceed a certain threshold value of the annual yield of the wind turbine.

Protection of bats at wind turbines

Dealing with the introduced reasonableness threshold poses a particular challenge for nature conservation and licensing authorities with regard to weighing up the possible protective measures for affected bird and bat species. This is because bat-friendly operation would already require a large proportion of the available resources in many places. The only effective measure for protecting bats is to impose operating restrictions based on wind speed and temperature. A simulation model was developed to show, among other things, that in most federal states, the blanket operating restrictions defined for the protection of bats contradict the maximum number of fatalities per wind turbine per year.

Probabilistic method for determining the significant increase in the risk of bats being killed at wind turbines

In another focus area, the project dealt with the application of probabilistic methods for assessing the species protection law prohibition on killing in wind turbine approval procedures. In addition to identifying general opportunities and risks of the method, various approaches were described and classified from a legal and technical perspective.

Consideration of species protection issues when designating wind energy areas at the regional planning level

As a result of the discussions, a tiered land use concept for selecting potential wind energy areas was proposed. The first step is to identify areas that are excluded under species protection law because they are the most sensitive in terms of species protection. After deducting these areas, the remaining potential areas must be classified in terms of their species protection conflict risk so that the potential areas can be ranked according to their conflict intensity.

Ordering mitigation measures when approving wind turbines in wind energy areas that meet the requirements of Section 6 of the Wind Energy Act (WindBG)

In addition to information on how to proceed when ordering measures in specific cases, suggestions for selecting suitable and proportionate measures were presented. The procedure is then explained using a case study.

Examination of legal and technical issues relating to the RED

The focus was on describing and classifying the regulations governing the designation of acceleration areas and the approval of wind turbines within these areas.

Includes an abstract in English.

• RED: Auseinandersetzung mit rechtlichen und fachlichen Fragen, erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens „Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG“, Marcus Lau, Katrin Wulfert, Lydia Vaut, Heiko Köstermeyer, Jan Blew, 2. Fassung vom 02.05.2024
   
• Kurzpapier: Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau – Zumutbarkeit von Schutzmaßnahmen nach Anlage 2 BNatSchG und § 6 WindBG – Analyse von Fallkonstellationen erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens „Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG“ (Stand: Februar 2024)
   
• Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau - Anordnung von Minderungsmaßnahmen bei der Genehmigung von WEA in Windenergiegebieten, die den Voraussetzungen des § 6 WindBG entsprechen, erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG (2. Fassung vom 21.09.2023)
   
• Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau - Berücksichtigung artenschutzrechtlicher Belange bei der Ausweisung von Windenergiegebieten auf Ebene der Regionalplanung, erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG (2. Fassung vom 13.07.2023)
   
• Einführung einer probabilistischen Methode zur Ermittlung der signifikanten Erhöhung des Tötungsrisikos; Zwischenergebnisse im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG (Entwurf 23.06.2023)
   
• Sicherung des Erhaltungszustands in der artenschutzrechtlichen Ausnahme - erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG, erarbeitet im Rahmen des BfN F+E-Vorhabens Artenschutz und Windenergieausbau an Land – Neuregelung des BNatSchG (Entwurf 23.06.2023)