Wind energy offensive comes into force in February
Published: Friday, Dec 15th 2023, 11:40
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Wind turbines can be planned and approved more quickly in future. On Friday, the Federal Council approved a corresponding amendment to the Energy Ordinance, which will come into force on February 1.
This will implement the amendments to the Energy Act adopted by Parliament in June 2023, as announced by the Federal Council.
For the so-called "Windexpress", the approval procedure for wind energy plants of national interest that have a legally binding land use plan will be accelerated. For these projects, the canton will now be responsible for planning permission once the amended ordinance comes into force in February 2024.
In addition, legal remedies against these building permits are restricted: They can only be challenged before the highest cantonal court. An appeal to the Federal Supreme Court is only permitted to clarify legal issues of fundamental importance.
The special provisions apply until an additional capacity of 600 megawatts has been added, as announced by the Federal Council. The cantons and operators are therefore obliged to report the affected plants to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).
©Keystone/SDA
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