German authority to decide on wind approvals after 4-year delay

A German authority has agreed to decide on the approval of three onshore wind park projects by the end of the year after the projects' developers led by UKA Umweltgerechte Kraftanlagen have been waiting for a decision for nearly four years.

The State Office for Agriculture and Environment (StALU) Westmecklenburg made the commitment on Tuesday after the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Greifswald clarified that the inactivity in the procedures for the three projects was not justified. Under German law, the authority is obliged to issue a decision within seven months.

The hearing took place on September 5 and concerned the Herzberg-Granzin I and II, along with the Passow wind energy projects slated for development in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In total, these three wind parks will encompass 17 turbines, each with capacities varying from 4.2 MW to 5.6 MW. Once operational, the three wind farms have the potential to provide clean power to about 85,000 households.

The planning of these projects has been completed and the developers have been waiting for approval since 2019.

The authority has reserved the right to revoke the agreement, saying that additional decision-makers should be involved. If revoked, the court will issue judgments and confirm that the delays in the approval procedures were unlawful.

The three projects are part of twelve schemes for which UKA has filed a lawsuit after waiting for a decision for years.

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