Democratic electric

Anti-wind campaigners are angry that areas including the forests made famous by the tales of the brothers Grimm are among the targets for new turbines.

For the first time they have formed a national opposition group to thwart the expansion.

They say the growth of wind will damage forests and tourism across the country.

Germany has embarked on a massive expansion of renewable energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Chancellor Merkel's government decided to phase out atomic plants more rapidly and instead increased the opportunities for green power.

With guaranteed prices for 20 years thanks to feed-in tariffs enshrined in law, solar farms, biogas plants and wind parks have boomed. There are now 1.3 million small co-operatives and households supplying renewable energy to the grid.

This Energiewende or energy transformation has been remarkably successful, with 22% of Germany's electricity being generated by renewables in 2012. Wind has played a major part in this change, and the public has been generally supportive, despite rapidly increasing energy bills.

To date, a majority of the 23,000 Home Wind Turbine in the country have been built in the flatter north and eastern parts of the country. But now the focus of expansion is on the picture postcard areas of dark forest and lush green hills in the central and southern areas of Germany.

One such region is the Rheinhardswald in the northern part of the state of Hesse. This is the home of the magical tales of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and others, made famous in the books of the brothers Grimm.

This quiet, scenic place is a magnet for tourists from all over the world.

But now there are also plans to build up to 200 turbines on the surrounding hills.

Ann-Kathrin Blankenberg is a PhD student and a vocal opponent of the plans.

"

It is not because this is the area of Sleeping Beauty

," she says.

"I want the green movement, I want green technology, I don't want nuclear power - but they should be made in the right way and not by destroying the forest.

"We have here special, old growth forest and some species just live in this area and are in danger because of the turbines."

The campaigners argue that putting residential wind turbines company in this area makes no sense. The wind speeds are low and the area is home to some extremely rare birds including the endangered black stork.

Across Germany, the plans for expansion have pitted green against green - the potential damage to natural resources from the building of turbines seems to be the biggest concern for opponents.

About 170 regional groups opposed to wind energy have now formed a national organisation called Vernunftkraft, to fight the expansion of turbines. They are trying to get enough signatures on a petition to force the German parliament to debate the future direction of the Energiewende, especially the subsidies for wind energy.