Wind Energy Plants in Forests Are Still an Exception to The Rule in Most Places.

Today, wind energy plants (WEP) in forests are still an exception to the rule in most places. In Germany as a whole, the number of plants in, or rather above, forests is estimated to be about 200, which accounts for only 1% of the total number of wind energy plants in the country. In order to provide at least 20% of the total energy consumption outside the traffic sector from regenerative sources by 2020, more wind energy plants are now to be built in forests, too, in a number of federal states in future. Forest owners in all types of ownership categories are speaking out in favour of the simplifications and are hoping they will entail additional sources of income, such as renting out forest areas as sites for wind energy plants. By opening up new fields of business, forest owners would become correspondingly more independent from events on the wood market. From the standpoint of today, the woodworking industry does not anticipate any negative consequences for the wood supply, however, even if the target incomes forest owners have set for themselves could be reached with less felling in future. Source: euwid-wood-products