Bavarian mayors call for accelerated windpower rollout in cross-party appeal

A fifth of all mayors in Bavaria have called on the regional government to speed up the construction of wind turbines in the state, newswire dpa reported. In a cross-party appeal, 432 mayors said greater haste and support was needed from the government led by Conservative state premier Markus Söder. It is important "that energy is generated locally and in a decentralised manner,” said mayor Iris Harms, a member of Söder’s Christian Social Union (CSU), who partly spearheaded the appeal. “Energy will always be needed, even more in the future, and what is produced locally brings the added value to communities," she added.

"Politicians and authorities at all administrative levels in Bavaria are called upon to use any scope for decision-making to enable the expansion of renewable energy, storage facilities and grid infrastructure, as well as to promote municipal investments," reads the appeal. In addition, there is a need for a rapid expansion of the distribution grids, citizen participation and "fast and legally secure approval procedures."

The Bavarian industry association has also warned that the Southern German region’s status as an economic powerhouse is at risk from the lack of renewables. The largest German state by area has been particularly reluctant to embrace wind power generation, with strict minimum distance wind power rules stipulating that new turbines must be constructed at a distance from residential areas that equals at least ten times their own height. The state, which has been politically dominated by the CSU for decades, also blocked plans to increase power transmission line capacity from north to south for years. Söder said earlier this year that Bavaria would build 1,000 new onshore wind turbines and create a state-owned agency to speed up the buildout.