It is still a voluntary thing. The most recent amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) states that operators of wind turbines should provide financial support to affected municipalities. However, experts generally do not interpret this formulation as an obligation. However, this reading does not seem to apply to WPD Onshore GmbH & Co. KG. She wants to take advantage of the law and support communities around their wind farms with annual financial injections. It has now concluded corresponding contracts with the communities of Axstedt, Hambergen and Lübberstedt. You are within a 2.5 kilometer radius of the Hambergen wind farm and will be able to rely on payments in the future. Hagen and Osterholz-Scharmbeck, whose areas are also covered by the radius, should also benefit. The contract is scheduled to be signed in Osterholz-Scharmbeck next Wednesday, April 10th.
“I’m happy,” says Udo Mester, mayor of Axstedt. That was meant honestly – but it still sounded a bit cautious. This may be because Axstedt can only expect around 2,000 euros per year. Due to its location, Mester’s community has little income from businesses and is barely making ends meet. 2000 euros hardly help. However, Axstedt is just on the edge of the said radius around the facility. The money is distributed among the municipalities according to area. It is 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour generated, a total of around 100,000 euros annually.
Helpful for the household
Things look completely different for Lübberstedt and Hambergen. The park lies between the communities and the area is correspondingly large. In the future, they can look forward to 40,000 euros annually. “The money is not earmarked,” reminds Hambergen’s mayor, Frauke Schünemann. For example, it can be used to maintain roads or to cover the deficit at daycare centers. The first payment “saved” the budget of the municipality of Lübberstedt, as Mayor Jürgen Mehrtens emphasizes. In his draft budget for the current year, the treasurer assumed a deficit of 62,600 euros in the profit budget, but after the payment and an increase in the assessment rates for property taxes and trade tax, there is now a gap of 6,000 euros.
Udo Mester (from left), Frauke Schünemann, Lars Holzum and Jürgen Mehrtens signing the contract.
Photo: Peter von Döllen
The contracts have a term of 20 years – so the municipalities have a certain degree of security for their budget planning. And they start retroactively on January 1, 2023. The payments always flow in the following year because the actual amount of electricity generated must be determined. The Hambergen wind farm went online in 2016.
Clearer regulation
Lars Holzum works in project development at WPD. For him, local government participation is a good way to increase the acceptance of wind turbines. That’s how the legislature sees it too. A common argument from citizens, but also from council members, goes something like this: “We have the wind turbines on our doorstep and others are making a fortune from them. We don’t see a cent and have the hassle and disfigured landscapes.” That’s why many investors in wind power, but also photovoltaics, would like to have had municipalities involved for a long time. According to paragraph six of the EEG, this would theoretically have been possible. In practice, however, companies found it very difficult to prove that there was no bribery or advantage-taking, i.e. that they had “bought” a permit, which would be punishable. This is now more clearly regulated.
The payments are particularly interesting for new wind power projects: their implementation should be easier if these funds ensure greater acceptance of the systems. Currently, as with the Hambergen wind farm, it is also about existing systems. However, there is one hurdle: the installed capacity of the system must be more than one megawatt. There are several wind turbines in the municipality. Currently, only the wind farm in Holste-Oldendorf would be eligible for participation. The joint municipality should hold appropriate discussions with the operators. All other systems are probably too small.
Reimbursement by network operators
If the electricity from the relevant systems is subsidized by the EEG, the operators can have the municipalities’ financial contribution reimbursed by the network operator. This is the case with the Hambergen wind farm, as Lars Holzum says. This makes payment easier for the company. Nevertheless, Frauke Schünemann was pleased that the WPD approached the communities on its own initiative.
The state of Lower Saxony is currently working on its own law: Law to increase the expansion of onshore wind turbines and open-space photovoltaic systems as well as to change spatial planning regulations, or Wind Energy Acceleration Act for short. Among other things, it is intended to implement the federal wind onshore law, in which the federal government sets area targets for the expansion of wind energy. It should also regulate spatial planning and the participation of citizens and municipalities. It also provides for an acceptance fee, which obliges system operators to pay in accordance with paragraph six of the EEG. However, the draft also sets out guidelines for the use of these taxes. Accordingly, these should not be used for mandatory municipal tasks. It is currently unclear when and whether the law will come into force.
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2024-04-05 03:23:49
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