Cabinet – Munich – Aiwanger firmly expects the 10H rule to be relaxed – Bavaria
Munich (dpa / lby) – Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger is counting on a relaxation of the controversial 10H distance rule for the construction of wind turbines. He assumes that the rule will be opened “at many points”, “from the priority and reserved areas of forests to military training areas, commercial and industrial areas,” said the Free Voters chief on Tuesday after a meeting of the Bavarian Cabinets in Munich. In this way, more and more electricity can be “generated on site and can also be used directly again”.
Since the Ukraine war and the rising energy costs, there have also been more signals from the economy calling for renewable energies to be promoted as a location factor, said Aiwanger. The 10H rule defines the minimum distance between a wind turbine and the next settlement: this must correspond to ten times the height of the wheel. Since its introduction, the expansion of wind power in Bavaria has come to a virtual standstill.
Aiwanger was confident that the CSU parliamentary group in the state parliament – unlike in the past – had recognized the need for easing. On Wednesday, the CSU MPs want to discuss the topic in their parliamentary group meeting.
A paper sent to the CSU parliamentary group lists several “potential changes” to 10H that have been discussed so far. In all of these cases, “if they were decided”, an expected new minimum distance of 1000 meters to the next residential building should apply.
Mentioned are: the partial or replacement of existing wind turbines, also with improved systems; state, corporate, private and federal forests; priority areas for wind power in regional planning; pre-stressed areas (due to significant transport infrastructure); military training areas; and wind turbines as “ancillary systems” of commercial enterprises.
For Greens parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann, the CSU and Prime Minister Markus Söder are “in an energy policy dead end” when it comes to wind power, into which they have maneuvered themselves. If Söder does not find a way out now, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) will “put him out of this dead end in the interests of Bavarian industry”.
With regard to the use of hydropower, Aiwanger accused the federal government of blocking the situation: “We are massively criticizing what the federal government is currently planning: to shoot down hydropower in Bavaria.” The federal government wants to remove small hydropower plants with an output of up to 500 kW from the EEG funding. More than 60 percent of the small hydroelectric power plants are located in Bavaria. “We can’t do without them,” said Aiwanger.
More than 3,000 systems would be affected throughout Bavaria. This means the power supply for a government district like Lower Bavaria. The Free State will therefore introduce appropriate corrections in the Bundesrat.
To ensure the power supply, the cabinet also decided to increase the number of staff in the Bavarian licensing authorities. This also enables faster approvals for construction projects in the distribution network. Because of the expansion of large open-space photovoltaic systems and other decentralized renewable energies, the distribution grids in the country would have to be “fundamentally converted and expanded,” it said.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220426-99-50038/4