Otterfing: Wind turbine applications are delayed
Created: 08/20/2022, 16:00
By: Andreas Höger
Wind turbine in the forest: Similar systems are to be built in the Hofoldinger forest.
© ´dpa
The approval process for the three wind turbines in the Hofoldinger Forest should start in July.
But the municipalities of Otterfing, Sauerlach and Aying still want to wait for reliable reports on noise, ground and shadow impact.
It will be autumn before the trial begins.
Otterfing's mayor says that doesn't change much on the schedule.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2024.
Otterfing - It's a slow advance - combined with the concern of making a mistake after all, which will fall on the feet of the ambitious wind power project in the municipalities of Otterfing, Sauerlach and Aying.
In July, the recently founded Windenergie Hofoldinger Forst GmbH – the three municipalities act as shareholders – wanted to apply to the district offices of Munich and Miesbach for approval of the wind turbines.
The assessment runs according to the guidelines of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSCHG).
In order to be able to go through the process quickly, the municipalities again commissioned detailed reports on structural engineering and possible emissions from the wind turbines.
"The appraisers have full order books," says Otterfing's Mayor Michael Falkenhahn, "progress is delayed a little." He assumes that the application packages will be submitted in September or October.
The lower nature conservation authorities of the two district offices then examine three to six months.
"It would be nice if it could be done quickly," says Falkenhahn.
The schedule provides for some safety buffers next year, says the head of the town hall.
"But the fact remains: we want to build the wind turbines in 2024."
The locations in Otterfing and Aying are secured in terms of planning law.
For the Otterfinger windmill there are explicit exceptions in the valid landscape protection area (LSG), the municipality of Aying has even designated its own wind power concentration area.
However, the Sauerlach location, which is also located in an LSG, still needs planning legitimacy through a corresponding change in the LSG ordinance.
The procedure, initiated by the district of Munich, is complex and has to go through several committees.
"That should be completed before we go into the process," says Falkenhahn.
After all, you don't want to fail because of a formal error.
The formalities also include when the new GmbH will take over the project completely from the old working group (Arge), which includes the districts of Miesbach and Munich in addition to the municipalities.
"We're still talking about that," says Falkenhahn.
One will probably wait until all reports are available before the consortium is actually dissolved.
"For everyone involved, such a wind power project is new territory," emphasizes Falkenhahn, "for us communities as well as for the district offices." Nobody wants to make mistakes - if only to be armed against resistance.
Lawsuits against a permit are not excluded.
According to the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Association for Landscape Conservation and Species Protection in Bavaria (VLAB), which has its headquarters in the Upper Palatinate and has around 8,000 members, is currently fighting at least two dozen wind turbines in Bavaria, including two large wind farms in Franconia and three new wind turbines in Bavaria Pfaffenhofen.
Falkenhahn does not want to be fooled: "So far I have not heard of any possible lawsuits and I assume that there will be no further delays."
If the approval is available, the GmbH must determine the participation mechanisms of the community wind turbines.
How can citizens participate?
Who can subscribe for Shares?
With how much money?
All economic framework data must be listed in detail in a mandatory booklet.
If everything goes according to plan, public participation should start in spring 2023.
