Wind Energy and Natural Parks in European Countries (Spain, France and Germany)

Abstract

The rapid development of wind power in Europe has led to a debate about the most suitable location for new sites, in which the need to install turbines in areas with high wind potential must be balanced against their inevitable impact on the landscape and other environmental concerns. Conflicts can arise because wind turbines tend to be located in natural areas on which they have a strong visual impact, especially as there is a widespread belief that landscapes are immutable. Wind energy development also encounters local opposition when decisions are perceived as being externally imposed to the benefit of others from outside the area. There is a commonly held notion that wind farms should not be installed in natural parks, given that their function is to preserve natural and cultural landscapes of high value. This chapter however demonstrates that the situation regarding wind power development in these parks varies enormously, as in many of them the natural conditions for wind power development are very favourable. We analyse wind power development in natural parks in three European countries (Spain, Germany and France) in which the number of wind power projects has grown significantly over the last decade. Wind farms have been installed in natural parks in all of these countries. In France and Spain, this development has been restricted to small areas considered of low cultural and natural heritage value. In Germany, by contrast, some natural parks have a high concentration of wind farms, while others remain free of any wind power development. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the forces driving the development of wind power in these protected areas and to identify the differences between the three countries under consideration.