Plans for wind power expansion in Berlin irk city state’s local mayors
Clean Energy Wire / Tagesspiegel
Several boroughs in Germany’s capital Berlin have rejected a new analysis commissioned by the senate to assess the prospects for onshore wind power installations on the city state’s territory. The analysis – following a decision by the German government to adequately assess wind power generation potentials across the country - found more than 30 possible turbine locations on the state’s nearly 900 square kilometres of territory. Forests and large lakes were cited as potential sites despite them enjoying a special protection status as recreational areas for Berlin’s residents. However, none of the locations fell into the lowest categories assessing “conflict risk.” Negotiations between the boroughs and the senate should now identify which of the possible locations are best suited for building wind turbines. The turbines considered in the analysis, conducted by research institute Fraunhofer IESE, assumed heights between 150 and 230 metres.
Frank Bewig, local mayor in the borough of Spandau on the city’s outskirts, told newspaper Tagesspiegel that an intensive use of the district’s forests for wind power would be “out of the question.” The borough’s counsellor for the environment, Torsten Schatz, said the proposed location would be “detached from reality,” but added that Spandau remained open to host turbines elsewhere. Oliver Igel, local mayor for the borough of Treptow-Köpenick, said the analysis’s timing had been “unfortunate” and caused irritation among residents. However, local mayor Cordelia Koch, from Pankow, which hosts Berlin’s six existing turbines, said she was open to discussing new locations based on the analysis.
Under national wind power expansion plans, city states are required to designate 0.5 percent of their territory as possible locations, while larger states must contribute 2 percent. City states besides Berlin are Bremen and Hamburg, who both also already have turbines installed.
