Priority areas for species protection in wind energy planning

For the Energy Transition to progress successfully, the expansion of renewable energies is essential. The generation of energy by wind turbines plays a decisive role in this. However, the designation of areas for wind turbines conflicts with species protection.

This project serves to improve the consideration of species protection concerns in the expansion of wind energy use in the area of land use designation. The planned concepts are to promote the implementation of species protection goals in a regional context. The project will analyze and compare the different methodological approaches for the designation of priority areas and will identify manageable scientific procedures for the designation of areas, which at the same time allow for a legally secure implementation. These methods can vary depending on the natural conditions, the available data and the planning level under consideration. In order to promote an early exchange and the inclusion of affected stakeholder groups, a project support group is to be set up. The results should then be published in a way that is accessible to practitioners and the public.

Central goals:

• To identify and discuss methodological approaches to the designation of priority areas for the protection of wind energy sensitive species at the site designation level,
• where possible, to contribute to the improvement of legal certainty for their application, and
• highlight the implications of this approach for achieving climate and species protection goals.