Even if the federal government changes the laws for a faster expansion of wind energy in the summer, this would probably not have a major impact on the expansion of wind power in Hesse in the current year.

Marita Mang, the responsible department head at the Hessian Ministry of the Environment, communicated this when asked.

But she believes that more new wind turbines could be approved as early as next year.

She was convinced that clearer requirements in the amended nature conservation law would make it possible to issue special permits more quickly.

The expansion of wind energy in Hesse has recently been rather sluggish, which has been repeatedly criticized.

This should now be over, because as soon as the announced changes to the law come into force, the expert believes that they would have an impact on the approval procedures that are already in progress.

"It is always to be decided according to the current legal basis," she said.

"I assume that the expansion will actually accelerate because the decisions of the authorities will be simplified." In addition, it will be clearer for the applicants which documents have to be submitted.

According to Mang, wind turbines that have already been rejected could still be approved if the legal situation has changed.

"I know that some wind power project planners who have received a negative opinion from the Federal Office for Air Traffic Control for wind turbines in the vicinity of radar systems now want to apply for these projects again," she said.

According to Mang, it could also be conceivable that, in addition to the changes in species protection, other rules that previously prevented the construction of new wind turbines would be relaxed.

"We have to wait for the federal government's Easter and summer packages to have an overview of that," she said.

In Hesse, two percent of the state area is currently designated as a priority area for wind power.

In their opinion, nothing will change about that.

“Hesse is one of the few federal states that have even set this two percent.

I'm currently not assuming that there will be a change here quickly, because the planning is a very complex process," she said.

The federal government's Easter package envisages reserving two percent of the area nationwide for wind power.

From 2026 onwards, this should then be complied with.

"Two sides of a coin"

"I hope that things will go faster now, because species protection was always a major issue in the approval process, and unfortunately it was not clear when exceptions are permitted," said the expert.

"If the exemptions are defined more clearly, then as a nature conservation authority you know what is allowed and what is not," explains Mang.

However, the expert doubts whether the announced changes in the law will reduce the number of lawsuits against planned wind turbines.

According to Mang, 1,141 wind turbines are currently generating electricity in Hesse.

336 plants are in the approval process and 121 have already been approved but are not yet in operation.

According to them, this is partly due to the fact that these wind turbines are being sued.

At the beginning of the week, the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs announced uniform standards according to which new wind turbines are tested and approved.

Hesse's Environment Minister Priska Hinz (Die Grünen) commented on the agreement: "The key points for the environmentally friendly expansion of wind energy set the course for an accelerated expansion of renewable energies."

Hinz and also Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (The Greens) play into the cards.

At the beginning of 2021, they issued a decree in which the expansion of renewable energies was given such paramount importance that, in case of doubt, "the public interest in energy supply clearly outweighs the public interest in species protection".

In an urgent decision, the Hessian Administrative Court rejected the decree in November.

With the change in the law that has now been announced, the cards are being reshuffled.

"The Ukraine crisis shows that energy sovereignty and thus the accelerated expansion of renewable energies are of enormous importance," said Hinz, adding: "Species protection and the energy transition are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin."