Berlin: 2,600 votes for wind power plants - citizens express concerns!

Berlin: 2,600 votes for wind power plants - citizens express concerns!

In the past few days, a lot has happened in Berlin with regard to wind power. Around 2,600 statements on possible locations for new wind turbines have been received by the Senate Department for Urban Development. This participation process ended last Friday and will now take a few months to evaluate the entries, such as n-tv . The citizens have expressed their opinion and thus set a strong sign.

wind energy in urban development

The evaluation of the statements will not only influence future planning, but also lead to the fact that certain areas may be reduced or completely removed from the planning. It is planned to present the new wind energy areas in a second phase of participation in the second half of 2026. By 2032, Berlin must identify a total of 0.5 percent of its area as possible locations for wind turbines, whereby 0.25 percent must be achieved by the end of 2027, as well as the Senate Department for Urban Development explained.

The identification of potential wind energy areas currently includes the southern Grunewald, the Krummendammer Heide (Treptow-Köpenick), the Teufelsberg (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf) and Buchholz Nord (Pankow). However, there will be criticism from various sides. The Berlin Nature Conservation Association (NABU) expresses concerns about wind turbines in forest areas, and Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) sees the felling of trees in the Grunewald. He has already written to Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche to clarify his doubts about the legal requirements for the expulsion of the wind power areas.

A look at the national borders

But the concerns go beyond the city limits. The discussions are also noticeable in Brandenburg, especially in communities such as Ahrensfelde (Barnim) and Schöneiche (Oder-Spree). There are concerns here that some areas are too close to residential areas. The whole thing falls into a larger context in which the federal government and the Bundestag in 2022 have presented an extensive climate protection legislative package. The law for the expansion of renewable energies was amended in 2023 and the expansion goals were significantly increased. By 2030, 80 percent of the electricity consumed in Germany is to come from renewable energies, and for Berlin this means very specifically that by the end of 2027 0.25 percent and by the end of 2032 a total of 0.5 percent of the country area, as the Senate Department for Urban Development emphasized.

For detailed information about the connection between nature conservation and wind energy, interested readers can visit the website of Federal Environment Ministry