The Netherlands’ government will retain a distance standard requiring onshore wind turbines to be located at a distance of twice their tip height from homes, according to a letter from State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Annet Bertram. The standard will be included in the government’s draft decree on wind turbines and the living environment, while allowing for deviations in certain specific circumstances.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) is currently preparing new national standards for onshore wind turbines through the Ontwerpbesluit windturbines leefomgeving (Draft Decree on Wind Turbines and the Living Environment). The initiative follows a ruling by the administrative court that rendered previously applicable environmental provisions for wind farms inoperative because no environmental impact assessment (plan-MER) had been carried out for them.

The draft decree and the associated environmental impact assessment were made available for public consultation at the end of 2023. The ministry received a large number of responses, which will be taken into account as the draft decree is further developed.

Distance standard alongside new wind turbine rules

The draft decree contains rules for wind turbines and wind farms covering areas including noise, external safety, obstacle lighting and marking, shadow flicker and light reflection.

It also includes a distance standard. According to the government, such a standard does not provide additional protection against nuisance from wind turbines, but it does give citizens, nearby residents and authorities greater certainty and clarity about the permitted distance between homes and wind turbines.

The government has decided to retain the distance of twice the tip height of a wind turbine included in the draft decree. It said the decision balances the need to address energy requirements with concerns raised by people living near wind turbines.

The government said the standard will provide people who already live in an area with greater clarity and certainty while avoiding unnecessary restrictions on new housing construction. By introducing the distance standard now, it also aims to prevent the adoption of more restrictive distance requirements that could constrain both housing development and the energy transition.

The decision also implements parliamentary motions by Erkens and Leijten from 2022 and De Groot from 2025.

Exceptions could allow shorter distances

The government acknowledges that the distance standard could restrict certain developments in specific situations. For this reason, the draft decree will include an instruction rule requiring authorities to “take into account” the distance standard, allowing the distance to be reduced.

This provision is intended to give competent authorities room to weigh competing interests based on local circumstances, under what the government describes as a “comply or explain” principle.

The future administrative order (AMvB) will also define a number of exceptions under which the distance standard will not apply. These will include, in any case, the replacement of existing wind farms, large regional and national housing development locations — both current and future — and housing projects that have been formally initiated by the competent authority by the time the standard enters into force.

In addition, the explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft decree will contain a non-exhaustive list of examples in which a well-substantiated deviation from the distance standard may be permitted. These examples will be developed in greater detail in the coming period.

Once the draft decree enters into force, existing provincial instruction rules concerning distance standards will cease to apply.

Review planned after five years

The government plans to evaluate the draft decree after five years to assess whether new wind turbine technologies and innovations could provide scope to adjust the distance standard.

The government will submit the draft decree to Parliament for prior consideration before the end of 2026. According to Bertram, this will provide greater clarity for citizens, competent authorities and the wind energy sector.

The letter also includes the government’s responses to parliamentary questions from MP Vermeer concerning data and standards for onshore wind turbines, and from MP Van Oosterhout concerning the delay in adopting national standards for onshore wind turbines.

The letter was signed by Annet Bertram, State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management.