Energy supplier EnBW welcomes the judgment of the OVG Lüneburg

According to the OVG judgment, wind turbines are now generally permitted everywhere in the district and no longer only on priority areas.Applications must be checked in individual cases, which could delay projects.

Uelzen/Landkreis - The regional spatial planning program for the Uelzen district (RROP 2019), which came into force almost three years ago, is ineffective to the planning law requirements for use of wind energy.This was decided on Tuesday, the 12th Senate of the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Lüneburg in a standard control procedure at the request of the EnBW Windkraftprojekte GmbH company, which wants to operate a wind farm in the district outside of the 22 priority areas shown in the program.

In the reasoning of the judgment, it is said that some of the regulations contained are sometimes not sufficiently determined.In terms of content, it should be objected to that the district also declared areas to be priority areas that are not, not to the full extent or may only be suitable.For example, the Bundeswehr uses 20 of the 22 fixed areas for deep flights of helicopters, which according to the Air Traffic Act has priority in the interest in using wind energy.At the level of its planning, the district should therefore have identified and separate the partial areas in which for this reason there was no room for wind turbines, so it should not be postponed to clarify this question into a later approval process.

"If you identify areas, please do not look after the motto: we'll look, maybe we are lucky," said judge Kristofer Kurbjuhn, who also complained about the comparatively low rate of 1.32 percent of the circular area for wind energy use during the trial: "The less priority surfaces I have, the more secure the existing must be."

The district's lawyer, Anke Apitz-Wegener, claimed that her client from the Bundeswehr was not sufficiently informed about this deep-flight "corridore" due to military confidentiality, but praised during the negotiation: "Rrop does not have any acceptable weaknesses, we have to create another plan.We know our problems. ”Problems for which the court finally showed great understanding:“ Nobody envy this task here.It's incredibly difficult. "

The Senate did not allow the revision against the judgment - however, a complaint can be filed against this non -registration within one month.Will the district do this?

"The chances of success of a non-admission complaint can only be checked if the judgment of the Higher Administrative Court has the district's justification," said district spokesman Martin Theine yesterday when asked by AZ.For this reason, the district administration could only make a statement in terms of content if the judgment of the Higher Administrative Court was present and had been analyzed in the district house.The further procedure as well as a schedule based on it also depend on this.

In any case, the OVG assessment has consequences, as Theine explains.Because: “Due to the elimination of the priority areas for wind energy use determined in the regional spatial planning program, wind energy systems are generally permitted throughout the district.In the case of applications in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act, the spatial compatibility must now be checked separately in the respective individual case within the framework of a spatial planning procedure, ”said the spokesman for the district administration.

Furthermore, it should also be checked whether the land use planning of the municipalities or velvet communities would conflict with the planned construction of wind turbines."In this respect, the project progress should be extended accordingly," says Theine.

In relation to the case, which was negotiated at the OVG in Lüneburg on Tuesday, that is about plans for a wind farm southeast of Hohenzethen outside of the previous priority areas, Theine explains: “First of all, the applicant must assess whether an application for successHas.The conditions mentioned apply to the chances of success. "

The energy supply company Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) also responded to the Lüneburg judgment of Tuesday.“We expressly welcome the judgment of the OVG Lüneburg.If it becomes final, the regional plan would no longer conflict with our Hohenzethen project.In 2016 we submitted a permit for five plants near Hohenzethen.The area is planned by us, ”explained Miriam Teige, EnBW press spokeswoman WindEnergie.

On behalf of the EnBW, a so -called "faunistic report" and biotope mapping took place in 2016.According to its own statements, EnBW Windkraftprojekt GmbH offers planning, construction, operation, maintenance and maintenance from a single source."The aim is to operate on and offshore wind turbines with 4000 megawatts in total by 2025," said the company.