Germany Making It Easier to Build Offshore Wind Farms

May 10th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

Bureaucratic red tape is one of the biggest hindrances to offshore wind power growth right now, not just in the U.S. (where the Obama administration actually streamlined the approval process for offshore wind power last November) but in many countries.

Germany (where I’m actually headed in a few hours) is looking to take a major step forward on this front soon by transferring all offshore wind power approval responsibilities to one government authority.

“This draft bill is a key first step toward a new energy concept by the federal government,” transportation minister Peter Ramsauer said last week.

With Germany’s decision to cut nuclear out of its mix completely after the Japanese nuclear disaster, policies to speed up the deployment of clean, renewable energy are clearly needed (if the country is also to adequately cut its potentially more harmful use of coal power).

“Should the draft bill be approved by parliament, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) would be the sole authority to decide on new windpark projects,” Reuters reports.

“Previously, a state authority on nature conservancy was charged with reviewing the impact on fish and seabirds — an examination that will now be demoted from a required separate approval to a simple position paper to be submitted to the BSH.”

The wind industry is, of course, happy about this proposal, but it asserts that red tape related to onshore wind power projects also needs to be cut.

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Photo via danishwindindustryassociation









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