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Glossary · Energy industry & energy transition

Permitting procedure

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A permitting procedure is a legally regulated process of review and decision-making. In it, an authority determines whether a planned project may be built, modified or operated. In the power system, this applies, for example, to wind turbines, ground-mounted photovoltaic installations, power lines, substations, battery storage systems, power plants, electrolysers, large-scale charging infrastructure and industrial plants with high energy demand. Which procedure applies depends on the type of installation, its size and its location. The legal information below refers to Germany and to the position as of November 2026.

The term does not refer to a single administrative step. It means an ordered sequence of application, review of the documents, expert reports, involvement of other authorities, where applicable public participation, balancing of interests, decision and possible legal remedies. The outcome is a permit decision (Genehmigungsbescheid), a plan approval decision (Planfeststellungsbeschluss) or a refusal. A permit is often granted with ancillary provisions, such as conditions. These may be technical requirements, protective measures, operating restrictions, compensation measures or obligations to provide evidence. An example of an operating restriction is shutting down a wind turbine at times when bats are flying.

What is examined in a permitting procedure

Which questions are examined depends on the project. For a wind turbine, the focus is often on emission control law, noise, shadow flicker, species protection, building regulations, aviation, heritage protection, fire protection and integration into spatial planning. For an extra-high-voltage line, the emphasis is more on route selection, spatial compatibility, affected properties, electromagnetic fields, nature conservation, landscape appearance, construction methods and later operating requirements. For a storage facility, fire protection, building law, water law, safety distances and the technical integration into the power grid may play a role.

What is examined is therefore not abstract energy policy. The question is whether a specific project is permissible at a specific location. Expansion targets, climate targets and statutory priority rules can influence the balancing of interests. An important example is § 2 EEG 2023, which has been in force since 29 July 2022. Under it, the construction and operation of installations for generating electricity from renewable energies and their ancillary installations are in the overriding public interest and serve public health and safety. Until electricity generation in Germany is almost greenhouse-gas neutral, renewable energies are to be given priority as a protected interest in the balancing of protected interests. This rule only has effect where a sector-specific law requires a balancing of interests in any case. It does not replace the examination of whether a project meets all permit requirements, such as noise limit values.

Permitting procedures are therefore interfaces between technology, law, space and the public. An installation may be technically feasible and sensible in terms of energy economics. But it may only be built once its location, construction method, operation and secondary effects are legally permissible.

Example: the procedure under emission control law for wind turbines

For onshore wind energy, the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) is the main authority. Under number 1.6 of Annex 1 to the 4th BImSchV, wind turbines with a total height of more than 50 metres require a permit under emission control law. For 20 or more turbines, the ordinance provides for the formal procedure with public participation. For fewer than 20 turbines, the simplified procedure applies as a rule. Since modern turbines are considerably taller than 50 metres, practically all of today's wind projects go through this procedure. Smaller turbines up to 50 metres are approved under the building law of the Länder. If an environmental impact assessment is required, a formal procedure may become necessary even for fewer than 20 turbines.

§ 10 BImSchG regulates the course of the procedure. The application can be submitted in writing or electronically. If the documents are insufficient, the applicant must supplement them. In the formal procedure, the authority publicly announces the project as soon as the documents are complete. It then makes the documents available for inspection on the internet for one month. The affected public can raise objections up to two weeks after the end of this period of display. Anything submitted after that is disregarded in this procedure. Other specialist authorities are to comment within one month. If an authority does not respond within this time, it is assumed that it does not wish to comment. The permitting authority can then comment itself or obtain an expert opinion. For installations for renewable energies, it can also base its assessment of species and habitat protection on the factual and legal situation at the end of this period.

Deadlines also apply to the decision itself. They begin when the application and the required documents have been received. In the formal procedure the period is seven months, in the simplified procedure three months. The authority may extend the period once by up to three months if the review is difficult or the delay lies with the applicant. It must give reasons for this. Any further extension requires the application or consent of the applicant. The authority must report any overrun of the deadline to its supervisory authority. The decision must be issued in writing and give reasons. From 1 January 2028, it will be served on the applicant electronically. It is important to note that the deadlines only start to run once the documents are complete. Incomplete applications therefore considerably prolong the procedure in practice.

Distinction from planning, tendering and grid connection

A permitting procedure is often confused with other steps. Planning is the preparation of a project: site search, technical design, expert reports, securing the land, financing and project development. The permit is the authority's decision on permissibility. Construction implements this decision. In operation, the installation is then used under the approved conditions.

Tenders and funding commitments are also something different. For onshore wind energy, participation in a tender under the EEG generally requires a permit that has already been granted. An award therefore does not replace a permit. Conversely, a project can be permitted without its economic viability being assured. Permit, financing, remuneration, supply chains and construction capacities interlock but follow their own rules.

The grid connection is another separate level. An installation can be permitted and still be connected only later. Beforehand, connection planning, technical requirements, grid compatibility and, where applicable, expansion work must be settled. For large projects, the connection itself can trigger further permits, for example for lines, switchgear or substations. This creates chains of dependencies: the generation installation, the connection and grid expansion must fit together in terms of timing. However, they are often applied for, reviewed and built by different actors.

Procedures in grid expansion

For line projects, the procedure often has several stages. Before the actual approval, state planning can examine whether a project of spatial significance is compatible with the requirements of spatial planning. This also includes examining site or route alternatives that come seriously into consideration. Until 2023 this instrument was called the spatial planning procedure (Raumordnungsverfahren). With the revision of § 15 of the Spatial Planning Act (Raumordnungsgesetz), it was replaced by the spatial compatibility assessment (Raumverträglichkeitsprüfung), which has been applied since September 2023. Its objective, course and effect largely resemble the former procedure. However, the legislator wanted to streamline and speed up the procedure. For certain extra-high-voltage lines crossing Länder or national borders, the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (Netzausbaubeschleunigungsgesetz) provides for federal sectoral planning (Bundesfachplanung). The process usually ends with plan approval (Planfeststellung): a comprehensive approval decision that bundles many individual permits and weighs the affected interests against one another.

Why permitting procedures matter for the power system

The power system is changing through electrification, renewable generation, storage, new consumers and the expansion of the grids. This change does not take place only in scenarios, investment plans or market models. It has to be implemented on land, in municipalities, along routes, at substations and in industrial areas. Permitting procedures help determine how quickly and under what conditions this succeeds.

This is particularly visible in wind energy. Installed capacity only grows if enough land is designated, projects are developed, applications are processed, conflicts are resolved and turbines are built. Long procedures can mean that technical plans become outdated or costs rise. Procedures that are too tight, on the other hand, can encourage errors that can later be challenged in court. A procedure does not automatically become faster through less examination. Often, clear responsibilities, complete application documents, digital files, uniform requirements, sufficient staff, binding deadlines and early identification of conflicts help.

Permits are also practically important for security of supply. Grid reinforcements, storage facilities, new substations or dispatchable power plants can contribute to grid stability. If they are permitted or built too late, the system needs interim solutions such as redispatch, the grid reserve or temporary operating restrictions. Such measures may be necessary. But they cost money and tie up the attention of grid operators.

Typical misunderstandings

A common misunderstanding is to see permitting procedures across the board as bureaucratic delay. In fact, they have protective functions that cannot be replaced at will. They clarify whether noise values are met, whether species must be protected, whether lines can be operated safely, whether property rights are affected and whether fire and water hazards are adequately taken into account. Without such procedures there would be more conflicts and more legal uncertainty. In addition, acceptance would suffer.

Equally simplistic is the idea that a long procedure is a sign of a particularly thorough examination. Delays often arise from incomplete documents, changing legal situations, a shortage of staff in authorities, missing standards, subsequent changes to plans, competing responsibilities or court proceedings. Duration alone says little about quality. A well-prepared application can pass a demanding examination faster than a formally simple application that has to be improved several times.

Another misunderstanding concerns participation. Public participation does not mean that every objection can prevent a project. It ensures that impacts on those affected, expert information and conflicts feed into the decision. The authority must examine the objections and give reasons for its decision. In the procedure under emission control law, a discussion of the objections is now only provided for at the applicant's request. It can also take place online, by video conference or by telephone conference. Participation can prolong a procedure. But it can also reduce later conflicts, because objections become visible early and plans can be adapted.

Responsibilities and system costs

Permitting procedures do not lie with a single body. Depending on the project, municipal building supervisory authorities, Land authorities, emission control, nature conservation, water or mining authorities, state planning or, for certain line projects, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) are responsible. Courts review the decisions after the fact. Transmission system operators and project developers do not decide themselves. They are project proponents: they submit the applications and prepare the documents. A permit under emission control law includes many other approvals, for example the building permit. For this, the permitting authority must fully coordinate the procedures involved and the ancillary provisions. This diversity is not an accident of administration. It reflects different protected interests, property rights, specialist responsibilities and federal competences.

For investors, permitting procedures are an important risk factor. Duration and reliability affect financing costs, supply contracts, the value of a project and the likelihood that it is actually built. If it remains unclear for a long time whether a project will be permitted, lenders demand higher risk premiums. If conditions become known only late, technical adjustments can be expensive. If court proceedings last years, investments are postponed or projects are abandoned altogether.

These costs do not always appear directly on the electricity bill, but they can take effect in the power system. Delayed grid expansion can make congestion management more expensive. If too little new generation is added, fossil reserves are needed for longer. If storage or flexible consumers are lacking, renewable electricity has to be curtailed more often. The connection is not mechanical, but it is real: legal procedures influence which technical options are available in time.

Acceleration without legal uncertainty

The debate on permitting procedures often runs under the keyword of acceleration. Sensible acceleration starts with the quality of the procedure. This includes clear review criteria, better data, digital participation, review steps that run in parallel rather than in sequence, well-equipped authorities, early steering of sites and legally secure standards. Current law already uses several of these levers: documents are displayed online, discussions can take place digitally, there are fixed deadlines for the involvement of authorities, and overruns of deadlines must be reported. If areas have already been examined and designated in planning, the later individual procedure is relieved. If environmental and species data are collected systematically, project developers have fewer individual questions to clarify under time pressure.

Pure shortening of deadlines, by contrast, can only shift conflicts. A short decision period helps little if expert reports are missing, responsibilities are unclear or the authority has too few staff to examine the documents. A permit with formal weaknesses can also fail later in court. Then no time is gained, but merely postponed.

Permitting procedures translate energy policy goals into legally robust decisions on infrastructure. They do not alone explain why the expansion of generation, grids or storage proceeds quickly or slowly. But they show where technical planning, public interests, property rights, financing and state responsibilities meet. Anyone discussing the transformation of the power system should therefore look not only at numbers of installations and expansion targets, but also at the procedures through which projects become built and operated infrastructure.

Sources

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Edited by eCMS on 12.11.2026 05:05

© 2026 Erik Schmidt. All rights reserved. Quotations with a link to the source are welcome.