German state of Saxony-Anhalt tightens wind power regulations to protect birds

The German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt is tightening regulations for the construction of new wind turbines in order to protect threatened bird species like the red kite, Welt Online reports. No new turbines will be commissioned in the state’s 15 red kite breeding grounds and older ones will be removed after their license runs out. Moreover, wind turbines situated along the migration routes of nocturnal bats could be switched off during the night “under certain conditions,” the article says. The state’s Green environment minister, Claudia Dalbert, said that Germany’s energy transition, the Energiewende, had to be “designed in way that ensures we don’t have to sacrifice species which are already threatened by us.”

Find the article in German here.

See the CLEW factsheet Fighting windmills: when growth hits resistance for more information.