Fraunberg: Is the wind turbine cooperative coming?

"It's no longer a question of whether, but of how": This is how Fraunberg's mayor, Hans Wiesmaier, judges the issue of wind power, which is now also reaching his community.

That's why he invited his counterpart from the Wartenberg market, Christian Pröbst, to give the municipal council first-hand information.

A cooperative of three communities is under discussion.

Fraunberg - Pröbst is not only the head of the town hall, but also the managing director of Energievision Erding (EVE), the preparatory company for the implementation of wind power in the district.

Wartenberg is already one step ahead: there is currently neither a builder nor an operator for a wind turbine.

But near Auerbach, directly on the border to the municipality of Fraunberg, an area for the construction of a wind turbine has already been designated (we reported).

“One day it will be 230 meters high with a rotor diameter of 160 meters.

With an expected average wind speed of 6.16 meters per second, the output could still be 4.2 megawatts,” explained Pröbst.

In order to make this wind turbine, which will cost around seven million euros, palatable to as many citizens as possible, he can imagine a joint cooperative of the three affected communities of Wartenberg, Fraunberg and Kirchberg - Pröbst has already spoken there as well.

"51 percent of the costs would remain with the municipalities, 49 percent would be distributed among their residents.

Even when electricity is later fed into the grid, the yield of around nine cents per kilowatt hour could be shared among the three communities.”

Wiesmaier pointed out that Fraunberg also had to think about wind power in its municipal area, preferably with local investors, "because some locusts from abroad are already buying up possible wind power clusters in Bavaria".

Specific locations have not yet been discussed.

Tenor in the municipal council: Fraunberg is interested in a joint project with its two neighbors, even if Pröbst pointed out "that we first need an expert opinion on species protection before we can even build a wind turbine here".

In any case, Wartenberg itself is already prepared to meet the requirements of the federal government with regard to renewable energy sources.

In order for the district of Erding to also fulfill its obligation here, 1.8 percent of the area must be designated for wind power in the sub-area use plan by mid-2024.

At Auerbach, not far from the Fraunberg districts of Riding and Vorderbaumberg, Wartenberg has designated an area of ​​around 5000 square meters for the construction of a windmill in the forest, but half of it can be reforested after construction.

"To get to this building, a four meter wide road is sufficient, and the construction of the base does not require the laying down of huge amounts of concrete," explained Pröbst.

The interaction of photovoltaics – which, however, requires a lot of space – and wind power is important, as a kind of optimal interaction.

There are also no concerns about the height of the wind turbine and the approach path to the airport, "we are at least 800 meters away from all the buildings in the area".