DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - North Rhine-Westphalia is activating additional areas for the expansion of wind and solar energy. The Ministry of Economics and Energy put a corresponding decree into effect on Wednesday. In the future, wind turbines can also be erected on damaged forest areas and in other coniferous forests. However, the decree does not apply in forest-poor communities, on nature conservation areas and in deciduous and mixed deciduous forests.

"Significantly increased," according to the ministry, are also the areas for solar energy plants along federal highways and interregional railroads that are possible for planning purposes. Also in "areas for industrial uses" are in the future complementary to the farm buildings open space solar energy plants possible. In NRW, according to the decree, only around 5 percent of installed photovoltaic capacity is accounted for by ground-mounted systems to date (as of the end of 2021).

In addition, the simultaneous use of agricultural land for energy production is facilitated. In the case of biogas plants, "appropriate spatial expansions of existing farm sites" are also made possible.

"With the decree, we immediately create scope for the expansion of renewable energies in North Rhine-Westphalia and move forward on the path to a climate-neutral future," announced Economics Minister Mona Neubaur (Greens). In parallel, the state government is continuing to work "at full speed" on amending the state development plan (LEP) in order to implement the federal government's two percent area target for wind energy as quickly as possible.

NRW is required by federal law to designate 1.8 percent of the state's land as wind energy areas by the end of 2032. The current decree is only a first step in the planned expansion of wind power. The new state development plan with area specifications for six regions is to be ready in spring 2024. According to the ministry, the current decree, which is binding on the authorities, is intended to "serve as a guideline for action during the transitional period."

According to the black-green coalition agreement, at least 1,000 additional wind turbines are to be built in NRW over the next five years./dot/DP/mis