Wind power in Berlin: Citizens' participation for new locations is now starting!

Wind power in Berlin: Citizens' participation for new locations is now starting!

Württembergische Straße 6, 10707 Berlin, Deutschland - On June 6, 2025, the Berlin Senate announced the early participation of the public to change the land use plan "Wind Energy in Berlin". The participation runs from June 10 to July 11, 2025 and is aimed at citizens, affected authorities and neighboring communities. This measure is necessary to meet the requirements of the Building Code in accordance with Section 3 Paragraph 1 and Section 4 (1). The aim is to identify suitable areas for wind energy, since Berlin is legally obliged to show at least 0.25 percent of the country area for wind power by the end of 2027, which corresponds to about 446 hectares.

As the Berlin Senate found in its message, the planning documents for citizens can be viewed online at any time. In addition, interested parties can take a look at the documents on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Living, Württembergische Strasse 6

identified locations for wind turbines

As part of the initiative, eight possible locations for wind turbines in the outskirts of Berlin were identified. The locations are distributed as follows:

• Three are located in the Pankow district: Blankenfelde/Akenberge, Buchholz Nord and the Landschaftsraum Wartenberg/Falkenberg.
• Two wind power locations are planned in the Grunewald: one at the Teufelsberg in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district and one in the southern part of Steglitz-Zehlendorf.
• Other locations are planned in the Krummendammer Heide (Treptow-Köpenick), the Rieselfeld Gatow (Spandau) and Jungfernheide/Tegel (Reinickendorf).

The height of the wind turbines has not yet been determined; However, it is discussed over heights of up to 230 meters or 150 meters. According to current information, there are already eight wind turbines in Berlin, but a concrete decision about the new locations for the next year will be sought.

challenges in the interpretation

The designation of the wind energy areas is not a guarantee for the immediate construction of wind turbines. An immission protection permit remains necessary and numerous challenges must be mastered. Berlin hardly has any conflict -free areas, and numerous areas had to be excluded. This includes zones for nature and species protection, aviation, or areas that are under the protection of the UNESCO World Heritage. The BUND for environmental and nature conservation (BUND) expresses concerns about the selection of the areas and demands also to take into account industrial and traffic node areas.

Senator Christian Gaebler (SPD) emphasizes that objections to wind turbines must be well founded. This happens against the background that a comprehensive study has researched the theoretically possible areas for wind power. The study, commissioned by Bosch & Partner GmbH and the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Industry and Energy System Technology, identified 53 potential locations, of which 31 areas remained with around 4,300 hectares that were divided into various conflict risk categories. Forest areas in particular enjoy high protection and are considered a very high risk of conflict.

For the implementation and implementation of the use of wind energy, it is also crucial that the legally prescribed planning procedure for final identified areas has been completed by May 31, 2024. In this context, city -states such as Berlin can compensate for their space goals by state contracts with other federal states by up to 75 percent. It remains to be seen how the citizens will contribute to the participation process between June 10 and 11 and what further steps the Senate will take to overcome the political and social hurdles.

For more information, the complete planning documents on the website of the Senate

*For the complete information on the planning and specifications, see also the communications of berlin.de , rbb24 and berlin.de again .