Suche
Schaafheim's wind power plan under pressure: Does the development plan need a new one?
In focus: wind energy in Schaafheim. Current plans for land use and approval procedures under Hesse's requirements.
Schaafheim's wind power plan under pressure: Does the development plan need a new one?
The community of Schaafheim is facing an exciting and responsible challenge: In order to meet the state of Hesse's requirements for the use of wind energy, the development plan must be revised. The state government has determined that 1.8% of the state area must be designated as priority areas for wind turbines (WEA). In these areas, WEA are considered privileged construction projects, which means that no development plan is required here. The Darmstadt regional council is responsible for the approval process and is based on the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) reports Main-Echo.
The priority area 2-88 comprises at least 28 hectares of agricultural land, which is owned by many owners. Interestingly, project developers have already concluded preliminary contracts for WEA locations. A consortium of WPD and Prokon now controls around 70% of this area. Currently, four approval processes for WEA locations have been initiated at the regional council - three are on the border of the priority area, one is in the middle. Five factors require particular attention as they have a direct impact on the development plan and the development of the priority area.
Challenges in the development plan
The municipality has decided to create a development plan for the priority area, which, however, only shows three wind turbine construction windows - and one of them is even outside the actual priority area. Even though the land at these locations belongs to the municipality, the regional council has “suspended” the approval process. The municipality's goal is to exert an orderly influence on the development of the priority area and to avoid wind shading.
The regional council's statement points out that some critical points must be taken into account. These include the location outside the priority area, minimum distances to the neighboring ostrich farm and technical developments with regard to height restrictions of the facilities. An optimistic approach from the municipality is area pooling. In doing so, it would like to contractually combine partial areas in order to maximize rental income and at the same time promote acceptance of wind turbines.
Wind energy in Hesse
The path to wind energy is paved by the Renewable Energy Sub-Plan (TPEE) 2019, which was approved by the South Hesse Regional Assembly in 2019. On February 10, 2020, the state government officially approved this plan. This stipulates that unplanned areas can be used as priority areas or exclusion areas. In the first amendment to the TPEE 2019, a total of 122 priority areas were identified with an area of approximately 11,175 hectares. These measures aim to take advantage of windy times in the region and minimize shutdown times of conventional power plants clarifies the Hessian state government.
The approval of wind turbines over 50 meters communicates that they fall under the BImSchG. Here you need a building permit and various approvals, for example for nature conservation or forestry law reasons explains the LEA Hessen. For smaller projects, simplifications apply when it comes to approvals and procedures.
The municipality of Schaafheim has a lot to do and it remains to be seen how the revision of the development plan is progressing. One thing is certain, however: the energy transition is not stopping in the region and a good hand in the development of wind energy can prove to be crucial.