On 29 September 2017 Gleiss Lutz filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Constitutional Court on behalf of Bremen-based wind energy company wpd against key provisions of the Offshore Wind Energy Act.
Founded in 1996, wpd is a global onshore and offshore wind farm developer and operator. Kaikas, a North Sea offshore wind farm project developed by wpd, is particularly affected by the new provisions of the amended Offshore Wind Energy Act that came into force on 1 January 2017. Approval for the wind farm with 83 turbines was already granted back in 2013, but because of the new legislation it is now excluded from all future invitations to tender – as the only already-approved project – and therefore has no hope of being realised. This means that all the investments were in vain – without compensation. The appeal therefore focuses on the impediment to wpd’s rights in the form of the constitutional guarantee of property rights and the freedom to choose and practice a profession.
The constitutional appeal proceedings are being handled by the following Gleiss Lutz team: Prof. Dr. Marcus Dannecker (lead, partner, Stuttgart), Dr. Marc Ruttloff (Berlin), Dr. Yvonne Kerth (Stuttgart) und Lars Kindler (Berlin, all public law).
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