Undeveloped land remains on a proposed site for wind turbines that was canceled due to military restrictions, next to a solar park in Tübingen, Germany.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergGermany’s Red Tape Creates a Berlin-Sized Hole in Energy Shift
Military airspace restrictions are holding up wind-power projects, highlighting the challenges for Germany’s energy and defense plans.
Nestled along the banks of the Neckar River in southwest Germany, the bucolic university town of Tübingen is known for its association with poets and philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, but it’s now in the midst of a conflict that pits defense interests against energy security.
Located a short drive from the French and Swiss borders, Tübingen is far from any conflict zones, and yet German rules that reserve airspace for military use have meant the city of 90,000 had to cancel construction of three wind turbines. The site was carefully selected on the outskirts, with minimal disruption to nature and had the potential to provide electricity for 10,000 people .