Federal States Pursue Laws to Ensure Municipal and Citizen Participation in Wind Power Profits

Several federal states are currently working on laws that will oblige the operators of wind turbines to let municipalities in particular, but also citizens, participate in the profits from wind power. The Federal Constitutional Court paved the way for this last year. In the case of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the judges ruled that an “obligation for residents and communities close to the site to participate in wind farms is permissible in principle”.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg were the first with participation regulations. Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, among others, now want to follow suit, but with different models, according to a survey by the German Press Agency. Bremen is currently examining regulations on mandatory participation, as is Rhineland-Palatinate.

Others, including Saxony, Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein, initially insist on a uniform federal regulation. “From our point of view, it is not expedient to develop individual participation laws,” said a ministry spokeswoman in Hesse. However, Hesse has a special regulation, a wind energy dividend for systems on state-owned land.

If the wind turbine turns or the sun shines, money comes in for the new windows in the day care center, for the volunteer fire brigade, for local club life.

Wolfram GuntherMinister of Energy in Saxony

Like Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein is of the opinion that the regulations in the Renewable Energy Sources Act are sufficient for the voluntary participation of municipalities. Bavaria and Saxony want to make their own regulations if the federal government does not act. Saxony’s Energy Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) said that instead of voluntary participation, he wanted municipalities to participate in the wind revenues. “When the wind turbine turns or the sun shines, money comes in for the new windows in the day care center, for the volunteer fire brigade, for the club life in the village.”

On average, four to five new wind turbines per day by 2030 – that was the announcement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). In the first half of this year, according to information from wind power associations, there were not even two. In the south of Germany in particular, there is rather a lull.

What are proponents of statutory participation planning?

What are the proponents of legal participation schemes planning, who, like Thuringia’s energy minister Bernhard Stengele (Greens), expect more acceptance and ultimately speed up the expansion of wind power?

A law is currently being discussed in the Thuringian state parliament that, according to the will of red-red-green citizens and municipalities, promises concrete income, but also allows models with cheap electricity supplies. The proposed standard regulation is that municipalities within a radius of 2500 meters around new wind turbines each receive 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour generated, and citizens 0.1 cents per kilowatt hour. If there is no agreement with the wind turbine operators, a kind of fine of 0.5 cents per kilowatt hour would be due to the municipalities.

The black-green state government in North Rhine-Westphalia is planning a “citizen energy law” that will enable residents and municipalities in the vicinity of wind turbines to participate financially. Anyone who wants to build or modernize a wind turbine should be obliged to found a company and offer shares of at least 20 percent to citizens and municipalities in the immediate vicinity. Here, too, regionally cheaper electricity tariffs are an option.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Energy Minister Armin Willingmann (SPD) wants to get a participation law through the state parliament this year, according to the ministry. Municipalities can get up to 30,000 euros each for the construction of new and modernized plants.

According to the ministry, Lower Saxony’s government passed a law similar to that in Thuringia in May 2023 – it is not yet in the state parliament. Operators of wind turbines and certain new solar systems are to pay a so-called acceptance fee of 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour to the respective communities. Citizens who live no further than five kilometers from a facility should be able to participate directly in projects.

Since 2016, investors in the pioneer Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have been legally obliged to offer residents and municipalities a project participation of at least 20 percent when new wind farms are built on land. A share may cost a maximum of 500 euros. However, the effect remained manageable – according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there have been hardly any private investors so far, and many municipalities have also taken their time. In Brandenburg, the state parliament decided in 2019 that the operators of new wind turbines have to pay a special levy of 10,000 euros a year to the municipalities. (dpa)