Around 2,600 responses on future sites for wind turbines

Berlin is looking for new locations for wind turbines. (archive photo)

Around 2,600 comments were received on possible sites for new wind turbines in Berlin.

This was announced by the Senate Department for Urban Development in response to a dpa inquiry. A corresponding participation process, in which citizens were able to express their concerns and suggestions, ended last Friday. The Senate Administration will now evaluate the comments. "This will take a few months."

Previous plans are being revised

Two lists with around 2,700 signatures were also submitted. The signatories are against the two possible sites Wartenberg/Falkenberg in the district of Pankow and the Karolinenhöhe sewage fields in Spandau. Following the evaluation, the current plans are to be revised. "It is possible that individual areas will be reduced or eliminated as a result of the comments received," according to the urban development administration.

Second participation phase in 2026

The new status with regard to potential wind energy areas is to be presented to the public and the authorities again in a second participation phase. This is scheduled for the second half of 2026. Only then will the decision to amend the land use plan be made by the Senate and House of Representatives. This only concerns the designation of wind energy areas under planning law, not the construction of individual wind turbines.

Designation of sites for wind turbines required by law

Under current federal law, Berlin must designate 0.5 percent of its area as potential sites for wind turbines by 2032 and 0.25 percent by the end of 2027. The potential wind energy areas identified by the Senate Department for Urban Development also include the southern Grunewald forest, Krummendammer Heide in Treptow-Köpenick, Teufelsberg in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Buchholz Nord in Pankow.

Criticism of wind turbines in Berlin's forests

Wind turbines with a height of up to 230 meters could be built there. However, there is already a lot of criticism of this: the Berlin Nature Conservation Association (Nabu), for example, is generally opposed to wind turbines in Berlin's forest areas. Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also expressed his skepticism and emphasized: "One thing is certain: we will not cut down any trees in Grunewald to erect a wind turbine".