A Minister Responsible for the Environment - Backhaus predicts positive progress in wind energy development.
After around a year of managing wind energy development, the Environment Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Till Backhaus (SPD), has provided a favorable progress update. In a recent declaration, he noted that the percentage of pending nature conservation statements, which dates back to 2015 and contains approximately 200 ancient procedures for roughly 780 wind energy plants, has diminished by over 25%. These include 54 statements covering about 230 wind energy plants with a total investment value of approximately 920 million euros.
To expedite the process, the nature conservation assessment for wind energy facilities was given to the state agencies for agriculture and environment. This merger has united the nature conservation and emissions control assessments for wind energy facilities under one roof, with the expectation that permit procedures would thereby accelerate.
Nevertheless, Backhaus also recognized that it would still take a significant amount of time to fully eradicate the backlog due to the perpetual stream of new applications for wind turbines. "To confront this torrent of applications, we have established 50 additional positions, 30 of which are for nature conservation and 20 for emissions control. Further appointments will be made shortly," Backhaus stated.
Upon the shift of duties, 297 emissions control applications for the creation and functioning of nearly 940 wind energy plants were in place. Currently, approximately 287 applications involving about 1123 wind energy plants are undergoing authorization, according to the Ministry for Climate Protection.
The Greens have shared some concerns. In a press release, Hannes Damm, the deputy faction leader, said, "Minister Backhaus speaks of speed, but he is, in fact, retreating in terms of wind energy." There are now more wind turbines in the authorization process than a year ago, he added.
Backhaus spoke at a press gathering of the state parliament in Schwerin, maintaining that this situation resulted from the increase in the total number of wind energy plants. "We have approved 240 applications by ourselves in the past year alone."
