Overview
- Regional planners in Chemnitz, Südwestthüringen, the Görlitz area and the Meißen region released draft wind zones with public comment windows set for May to July and in-person briefings in each area.
- Südwestthüringen’s draft raises wind priority land from 0.15% to 1.7% for a total of 6,900 hectares, the Chemnitz region maps 128 areas at about 1.5%, and the Meißen plan allocates 2,107 hectares to meet the 1.3% target.
- The proposals reopen parts of working forests and some sites closer to settlements after a formal weighing process, and planners estimate seven to eight turbines per 100 hectares with about 4,000 to 6,000 square meters of permanent forest loss per turbine.
- Local groups protested and promised formal objections over forest clearing and setbacks, while separate project tracks continue, including VSB’s two-turbine plan at Euba and repowering near Wittgensdorf and Rottluff.
- Officials cite the federal Wind-on-Land law and warn that missing end-2027 plan deadlines could nullify tools like the 1,000-meter distance rule and allow more project approvals outside mapped zones, adding urgency to finish the plans.