Berlin, November 7, 2024. “With the implementation of the EU Directive RED III planned by the Federal Government, the environmental impact assessment – ​​EIA for short – in its current form is to be abolished. We recommend that a voluntary assessment be made possible instead. The EIA is an established instrument in the approval process for
Offshore wind farms. Wind farm developers should continue to have the opportunity to submit documents from their environmental studies in the official approval process. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency should be obliged to consider optional environmental documents in the approval process and to provide appropriate templates. This approach enables
a rapid expansion of offshore wind energy in harmony with marine nature conservation. The decisive factor for the timing of the commissioning of the wind farm is the grid connection, not the speed of the approval," says BWO Managing Director Stefan Thimm.

Hintergrund:
The German Offshore Wind Energy Association discussed these demands yesterday with stakeholders from politics and business during a parliamentary evening on the implementation of the RED III Directive in the Berlin premises of the law firm Posser Spieth Wolfers & Partners.