Photovoltaic free-field system on the north side of the Auerberg

Created: 02/26/2022, 18:00

By: Oliver Sommer

The district of Osterberg is on the north side of the Auerberg.

The new open-space photovoltaic system is to be built on the left (west) area behind the tree.

© Summer

Bernbeuren – Bernbeuren goes under the electricity producers.

In the most recent meeting, the municipal councils gave their approval for the change in the land use plan and cleared the way for a photovoltaic open space system on the north side of the Auberberg in the Osterberg area.

For a good quarter of a year, the Bernbeur municipal councils have known of Bichler's intentions to build a solar energy collector farm on the Auerberg.

According to Mayor Karl Schleich, Bichler, who founded Energiebauern in the early 2000s, had already presented his plans to the municipal councils in mid-November.

Now it was a matter of informing the public and getting the building management process going, changing the land use plan and drawing up a project-related development plan.

Bichler said he had been dealing with the subject of energy since the 1970s.

The energy farmers, which Bichler founded 15 years ago and whose managing director he is, are a medium-sized company with around 70 employees.

Around 200 megawatts are newly built every year, which corresponds to around 200 hectares of PV systems;

40 projects are currently being planned across Germany.

One of the more recent systems that Bichler and his team have implemented is practically in the immediate vicinity.

In the Sachsenried forest, on the road from Schwabsoien to Kaufbeuren, a facility was built three years ago that is just as large as the one that is now to be built on the Auerberg.

According to Bichler, a comparable spot has also been found in the Sachsenried forest, which is not necessarily visible from the outside and where the “mirrors” of the solar collectors do not interfere.

Photovoltaics on the Auerberg: money stays in place

Bichler continued to explain the procedure of his company, which is now managed by his sons in the second generation.

And you guarantee, according to the senior partner, that the trade tax stays in the community.

In addition, the company pays around 2,000 euros per year from the sale of electricity to the community.

Bichler explained that even more important than the sale of electricity is the (independent) production of electricity in Germany.

He confessed that he would have to change his presentation after the events in the East earlier in the week.

Bichler is certain that Germany has become dependent on Russian gas for its energy supply and that energy prices will probably rise.

Because while other European countries import American LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) or, for example, from Norway, Russian gas will still have to be imported to Germany through the old pipelines via Ukraine and Belarus if you want reliable electricity production after the coal and nuclear power plants have been shut down to guarantee.

Now you have a new situation, said Bichler, after the federal government decided to refuse the operating license for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline to Lubmin in Western Pomerania as a sanction against Russia.

One will now experience massive gas price increases and was actually just lucky that last winter was so mild, said Bichler.

Bichler also addressed the change in funding and the new opportunities to build large open-air systems.

Until a few years ago, these were permitted on agricultural land, but then they were moved to so-called conversion areas, old landfills or open-cast mines and along railway and motorway routes.

Mounted vertically

The latest forms of PV systems are mounted vertically and therefore produce less power, but large vehicles such as farm tractors can drive through the systems.

So there is currently something like a gold rush mood, said Bichler, since it is possible to generate energy at such low cost that, when the sun is shining, it can produce electricity for five cents per kilowatt hour.

However, the industry is threatened with rising prices again due to the exploding raw material prices.

Overall, however, the open-space systems, such as those built by the energy farmers, represent an enrichment. Not only is the area hardly sealed, you can plant hedges and low trees as privacy screens, even small waterlogging areas and ponds are possible, which provide a habitat for insects and amphibians and provide protection.

Furthermore, sheep can graze on the fenced property between the solar panels.

In the best case, the committee asked, no compensation area is needed, since the energy farmers can upgrade the area ecologically in such a way that the compensation areas can be proven on the property itself.

For example, species-rich flowering meadows are possible.

And, added the boss, with the help of battery containers that can be positioned on the property,

This could be a nice project, Bichler summed up the Osterberg open-space system project at the end of his presentation.

The municipal councils, who unanimously decided on the project-related development plan, took a similar view.

The necessary change to the land use plan for the special area for photovoltaics also passed the committee unanimously.