Germany amends building code to boost renewables

The German government on Wednesday approved amendments to the Federal Building Code in a further move to spur the deployment of renewable energy across the country.

The draft law, proposed by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB), aims to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy in opencast mining areas and the construction of hydrogen plants in order to strengthen energy security.

The changes to the Building Code are an important component for accelerating the expansion of renewable energy and using the electricity generated in an efficient way, said economy minister Robert Habeck.

The draft law gives a privileged status to plants for the production or storage of hydrogen that are spatially and functionally related to wind turbines. Such plants will ensure that wind turbines do not have to be switched off in case of a grid bottleneck and that the excess electricity can be used for hydrogen production.

Additionally, the federal states will be empowered to issue ordinances and allow the installation of wind turbines and solar panels in opencast mining areas. Such areas have fewer conflicts with environmental protection rules or affected neighbouring places and these locations are well connected to the power grid. With the ordinances, the federal states will be able to replace lengthy processes for changes to the existing planning basis which will support the rapid implementation of green energy projects.

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