The German Environmental Aid Denounces Planned Amendments to the Offshore Wind Energy Law

The German government has plans of omitting environmental and species conservation checks for offshore wind farm construction in the dedicated acceleration zones. This, according to German Environmental Aid, is a death blow to marine conservation efforts.

German Environmental Aid (DUH) expresses its objections to the draft amendment of the offshore wind energy law, recently approved by the federal cabinet. This amendment is part of the draft for the "Act on Implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive in Wind Energy at Sea and Power Grids". The government aims to translate the EU directive's planning and licensing stipulations into national law with it. DUH reveals that the government plans on forgoing crucial environmental standards such as environmental compatibility and species protection checks when approving new offshore wind facilities in acceleration zones. According to DUH, directives for the protection of special areas at the planning level cannot mitigate this. The dilution would be a disastrous setback for marine protection.

The cabinet-approved draft amendment to the offshore wind energy law would, in the view of DUH's Legal Director Cornelia Nicklas, lead to a drastic downscaling of environmental standards. "The absence of an environmental compatibility check endangers not only the nature-compatibility of the projects, but also the planning security for established industry representatives", says Nicklas. "Designated acceleration zones, in which projects are completely exempt from environmental compatibility and species protection checks, would have dire consequences for marine conservation." Furthermore, they are not absolutely necessary for the national implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

"Marine and climate protection can't go hand in hand precisely this way. Our understanding of our marine areas is already poor, so renouncing the checks and data collection is absolutely unacceptable. We appeal to the members of the Bundestag to tighten the law and preserve environmental compatibility and species conservation checks", expresses Nicklas.