WRITTEN QUESTION E-0743/00

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(13 March 2000)

Subject: EIA and the definition of wind farms

Council Directive 97/11/EC(1) amending Directive 85/337/EEC(2) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment also lists the term wind farms among the projects subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (section 3(i) of Annex II). No definition of the term is provided. It is also unclear whether the defining factor is the number of installations, the total area covered by installations or the output of installations.

On the grounds of landscape protection and regional planning it was recommended in Germany's federal states that individual installations be grouped as far as possible into wind parks. Setting the number of installations at too low a figure means that parks with only ten wind power installations are now in danger of being subjected to EIA. EIA should apply to projects involving the likelihood of a substantial impact on the environment. Using wind energy is an important component of an energy policy geared to protecting the climate and all the German states have adopted special rules ensuring that nature conservancy and environmental issues are taken into account when identifying wind power sites. These rules have proved their worth. Further action requiring an EIA to be carried out where only ten installations are involved needs to be looked at and modified in the light of operating experience to date.

Is the Commission not also of the opinion that major importance must be attached to the utilisation of wind power in tackling the problem of climatic protection and complying with the measures agreed internationally at Rio and Kyoto to safeguard the climate?

What does it mean by the term wind farms as regards the number of installations and the land area involved (detailed figures please)?

How have individual Member States interpreted the term wind farms in the EIA directive?

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(12 April 2000)

The Commission supports strongly the development and use of renewable energy sources, such as the use of wind power and envisages a percentage of 12 % of final energy consumption by 2010. This will help achieve the Kyoto target of minus 8 % and deal with other environmental problems such as acidification or ozone. Obviously, wind-energy plays an important role in such strategies and was one of the fastest growing industries in the Community in 1999. Using alternative methods for energy production does not exclude, however, that such activities might have significant environmental impact in certain situations which should be identified, assessed and taken into account in decision-making. The design and building of wind-farms should take account of other environmental problems which might be encountered so one environmental problem is not replaced by another. Such evaluation does not hamper or delay the use of wind-energy but ensures an environmentally sound approach.

Directive 97/11/EC amending the first environmental impact assessment (EIA) Directive does not give details concerning the notion wind farms. It is to be noted that the logic for all activities listed in annex II of Directive 97/11/EC is that it is up to the Member States to determine the details (thresholds and criteria) above which a significant environmental impact is likely to occur. Such determination might differ from one Member State to another depending on specific characteristics. In some cases a wind-farm may consist of at least two wind turbines only which might cause significant environmental impact (e.g. when being placed close to a bird protected area) whereas in others several wind turbines might form a wind-farm.

As regards details of how the different Member States have transposed the notion wind-farm in their national legislation, it is to be noted that eight Member States, including Germany, still have not fully transposed Directive 97/11/EC. The Commission therefore does not have all information necessary to answer the question. According to available information wind-farm is defined differently using a combination of thresholds and criteria (e.g. The Netherlands: where the overall capacity of wind-mills is of 10 MW or more/year or 10 or more wind-mills, United Kingdom: the installation of more than 2 turbines or where the hub height of any turbine or height of any other structure exceeds 15 metres; Italy: at national level legislation all industrial plants producing power exploiting the wind are subject to screening but if they fall in a nature conservation area they are automatically subject to environmental impact assessment).