Council of States wants to facilitate the construction of small wind turbines
Der Ständerat will den Bau von Windturbinen mit einer Höhe von bis zu 30 Metern erleichtern. Diese sollen auch ausserhalb von Bauzonen gebaut werden können. Damit folgt er einer Standesinitiative von Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
In future, wind turbines with a height of up to 30 metres should also be able to be built outside of building zones. This was decided by the Council of States on 18 December by a majority of 26 votes to 12, with no abstentions. It is thus following a state initiative from Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
In June 2023, the half-canton had proposed facilitating the construction of solar and small wind power plants. It justified this with its particular way of building: “As a rural canton with a pronounced scattered settlement pattern, the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden is particularly affected by the very restrictive federal legislation,” it wrote in its justification. “In addition to the many farms, a particularly large number of people live in houses outside the building zones.” The canton could draw up to 15 per cent of its electricity requirements from wind power.
The Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy of the Council of States rejected the proposal with the casting vote of its Chairman Beat Rieder (centre/VS). Mathilde Crevoisier Crelier (SP/JU), spokesperson for the committee, justified the rejection with the low yield of small wind turbines. This did not justify the interference in the landscape, unlike in the case of large wind turbines, which can already be erected outside building zones.
Jakob Stark spoke out in favour of the initiative on behalf of the committee minority. “You have to take into account that small wind turbines have made great technical progress and come in very different forms,” said the Thurgau SVP member of the Council of States, according to the verbatim report. “They can make a valuable contribution to the security of electricity supply in winter.”
The bill will now go to the National Council.