After the opening by Patrick Rudolf, Sales Manager of Eno Energy GmbH, Giles Dickson, CEO Wind Europe, gave a keynote speech.
As part of a panel discussion, moderator Wolfram Axthelm, Managing Director of the German Renewable Energy Association / German Wind Energy Association,
Giles Dickson, CEO of Wind Europe, Bärbel Heidebroek, President of the German Wind Energy Association, Reinhard Meyer, Minister for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Tourism and Employment of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Torsten Klement, Managing Director of Eikboom GmbH, on the current political and economic situation of the wind industry in Germany and Europe. “What about dependencies in the supply chains, with Asian suppliers, for example?” Axthelm wanted to know. Heidebroek said that competition must be fair. “If we leave everything as it is, in ten years we will not have a bit of China, but only China.” A good start has been made at EU level with the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA). The NZIA sets the course for more European production of net zero technologies, for example in the areas of solar, wind, batteries and electrolyzers. The stated aim of the NZIA is that by 2030 at least 40 percent of the EU’s demand for these technologies should be produced in the EU each year.
Heidebroek also referred to the security risk when you consider the possibility of remotely controlling wind turbines and the danger that an external decision would be made to stop our entire renewable energy supply. She spoke out in favor of medium-sized suppliers in this country, who maintain a lot of added value and jobs in the country. However, it is also becoming clear on the market time and again that planners pay less attention to domestic products when purchasing than to a reasonable price. This is understandable when you look at what else is required of them today, from municipal taxes to extra equipment for the turbines with night-time markings, operating the turbines in a way that is optimized for species protection, noise and shadow shutdowns, negative electricity prices, etc.
Now, with the NZIA, criteria such as sustainability, cybersecurity, occupational safety and CO2 emissions during transport are also to play a role for systems that are awarded a contract in this country. In this way, regional value creation is to be strengthened. What seems particularly important, however, is stable framework conditions. The renewable energy industry needs to know that the framework conditions will not be shaken for its investments. And the financiers also want to know this before they grant loans. In this respect, it is particularly inviting when turbine sellers from China offer complete pre-financing and only want to see money when the first kilowatt hour flows. European manufacturers cannot afford that. They could not even if they were not as weak as they are at present. Karsten Porm, owner and managing director of Eno and organizer of Rostock Wind, would like to have KfW loans as a small manufacturer. It remains to be seen how domestic manufacturers will be able to stabilize themselves against international competition. At Hamburg Wind Energy, China is the second largest exhibiting country after Germany.
Wind energy in France
Citizens and monument protection
Many listeners in particular wanted to know more about the amendment to the Citizens’ and Municipalities Participation Act in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Joshua Hansen from Becker Büttner Held reported on the changes planned. The basic idea behind such laws: local financial participation can make an effective contribution to acceptance. According to Hansen, analyses have shown that this is more likely to be seen with regard to future projects that benefit from the positive connotations of similar projects in the past. In 2016, the MV Citizens’ and Municipalities Participation Act was launched, followed in 2019 by the Brandenburg Wind Energy Plant Levy Act – with an amendment in 2024. Also added this year were the Lower Saxony Citizens’ Participation Act and the NRW Citizens’ Energy Act as well as the Saarland Municipalities Participation Act. The Thuringia Wind Energy Participation Act, the Saxony Renewable Energy Profit Participation Act and the Saxony-Anhalt Acceptance and Participation Act are currently being developed. According to Hansen, experience with the BüGembeteilG has shown that the legal mechanism does take effect, but only after a long transition period. Participation under company law was hardly used, while exemptions pursuant to Section 1 Paragraph 3 BüGembeteilG in conjunction with Section 6 EEG were used most frequently. A high procedural burden for all those involved (including earnings value assessments) and a complex system of reporting obligations with corresponding administrative offences are to be viewed negatively. The proposed amendment is now intended to provide a more effective opportunity for participation and to take local needs into account; a simplification of the participation mechanism and better comprehensibility and accessibility are planned. The plan now includes an extension of the scope of application to “large” open-space PV systems (excluding special PV systems) and a consensual agreement between the municipality and the project developer as the standard model.
Martin Maslaton, Maslaton Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, then spoke about “Monument protection and wind energy – a Kafkaesque legal history”. He showed his audience how absurd the case law in the area of monument protection often is. However, he stressed that ultimately the interests of monument protection do not per se stand in the way of the construction of wind turbines. According to Maslaton, any impairment of the monument must be significant. Individual case examinations are necessary. And when weighing up the impact, the impairment of the monument must be weighed against the public interest in the expansion of renewable energies. When it comes to environmental protection, it is also important to consider how far the impact of an important cultural monument extends to its surroundings.
“You’ll never walk alone! – cleverly designing local and regional ecosystems in sector coupling” was the theme of the presentation by Julia Wiemer, Kapellmann und Partner Rechtsanwälte mbB. Wiemer pointed out how important it is for the various parties involved to come together to work together, ideally with a coordinator who holds everything together and keeps an overview.
Nicole Weinhold
Julia Wiemer, lawyer at Kapellmann & Partner, explained the interaction of different partners on the topic of sector coupling.
