Pellheim wind turbine in court: Operators defend themselves against too strict conditions

Created: 10/10/2022, 8:00 p.m

By: Stefanie Zipfer

A lot of energy is lost due to the standstill: the wind turbine at the Hörl und Hartmann brickworks near Pellheim is not allowed to turn at night for reasons of bat protection.

The company is now defending itself against the scope of the conditions.

© Christian Fischer

For around six years, the Hörl und Hartmann company has been operating a wind turbine to generate energy on its Pellheim company premises.

However, the requirements imposed by the district office are so strict that the bike has to stand still practically every night during the summer months.

The company no longer wants to put up with this.

Dachau/Munich

– The federal government has set itself the goal of increasing the share of electricity consumption from green electricity to 65 percent by 2030.

The problem: The requirements for species protection in the Federal Nature Conservation Act are so strict that it is almost impossible in this country to get your wind turbine approved for all-day operation.

At least so far.

An amended Federal Nature Conservation Act has been in force since July 29, which in its paragraph 45b – among other things – describes wind turbines as “overriding public interest” and also regulates the so-called reasonableness of temporary shutdowns. 

The Hörl und Hartmann company sees this law, which was modified by the new federal government in the course of the hoped-for expansion of wind power, as a great opportunity to get their Pellheim wind turbine running at night as well.

For as long as the wind turbine has existed - it went into operation at the beginning of 2016 - it has practically only been allowed to run during the day.

Reason: bat protection.

Administrative court must clarify: How many conditions are justifiable?

The Munich planning office Beermann Energiesysteme GmbH is in charge of the project at the Pellheim brickworks.

According to engineer Günter Beermann, the requirements of the Dachau district office for the approximately 200 meter high wheel were incomprehensible from the start.

Other district offices have always been more open to wind energy.

Entrepreneur Matthias Hörl complains: "Right from the start, the district office only wanted the strictest value." On Thursday, October 13, at 10 a.m., both sides will therefore meet again in front of the Munich administrative court - in the hope that the judges will use the applicable legal situation to find an answer to the question: How many restrictions for a wind turbine are justifiable?

The thing is currently - at least from the point of view of the operators Hörl and Hartmann - only little energy-profitable.

According to the requirements of the Dachau district office, the wind turbine as a so-called ancillary system of the brick factory may only run at night between April 1st and October 31st - as such the time is from two hours before sunset to two hours after sunrise - if the following conditions are met are: The temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, the precipitation is less than 0.004 millimeters per minute and the average wind speed is over 6 meters per second.

To put it simply: the windmill is only allowed to turn when the bats are too cold, too wet or too windy to fly.

This year, according to Matthias Hörl, this regulation meant: "Our wind turbine stands still every night."

Planner: "Bats don't fly that high!"

Engineer Beermann considers these requirements to be too strict for various reasons.

For example, the bats would “never fly higher than 30 meters above the trees” during their hunting flights – and thus not get in the way of the wind turbine blades.

And even if one considers that the bat species of the common noctule bat flies at higher altitudes over Dachau on their way to their southern winter quarters, then, according to Beermann, these migratory flights would only take place twice a year, in spring and in December winter, take place.

So why should you have to turn off the wind turbine at night all summer long?

At the district office, the law is briefly and succinctly referred to, according to which bats are "strictly protected and subject to species protection".

Therefore, according to spokeswoman Sina Török, "the wind turbine may only be operated in such a way that no bats are killed".

Engineer Beermann and entrepreneur Hörl emphasize that their wind turbine in Pellheim has never killed a single bat and that in principle they have no problem with protecting the animals.

"We're not against the conditions!" But they should be designed in such a way that the wind turbine can turn at least a little more often in the future.

Due to the standstill, according to Hörl, "a lot of energy is lost, which we actually urgently need at the moment".

You can find more current news from the district of Dachau at Merkur.de/Dachau.