Preparation for repowering: deconstruction of an old turbine site
In the regional land use programme (RROP) of the Wesermarsch district, the wind farm in Butjadingen is designated as a preferred area for wind energy utilisation. In its session on 30 September 2019, the district council passed a resolution in favour of the project-related planning programme 182 – Repowering Isens Wind Farm – including evidence and environmental impact report. On 5 November 2020, after an extensive preparation phase, the Wesermarsch district granted permission to Projekt Ökovest GmbH on the basis of the Federal Emissions Protection Act (BImSchG) to erect a Nordex N133, 4.8 MW.
Extensive studies and reports formed the basis for examination of the compatibility with the Habitats Directive of the Federal Nature Protection Act (BNatSchG § 34 Section 1). The conclusion is that the project will "not lead to a significant impairment of the "Butjadingen" bird sanctuary or other neighbouring Natura-2000 zones which would impact on the elements necessary for preservation or protection."
"A location that requires very complex and sensitive evaluation and development presented our experts with significant challenges. So we're very happy that in these difficult times the project development can go ahead successfully," says Ubbo de Witt, Managing Director of Projekt GmbH, the general contractor engaged for the project implementation. "However, the current circumstances are pretty strange because we still haven't got the necessary agreement from the EU Commission on the Renewable Energy Law (EEG 2021)". This means the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has so far not been able to publish the result of the tender process in which the company was involved, even though the decision was reached on 1 February 2021. This is despite the fact that the overriding Federal Ministry for the Economy (BMWi) initially announced that tender processes carried out under the EEG 2021 and the resulting orders would be "issued insofar as an EU aid approval should not yet have been issued up to this time – subject to the later approval of the EU aid".
Now the Minister, Peter Altmaier, in agreement with the BNetzA, was forced to revise this stance. More details are available on the Ministry's FAQ page.
https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/FAQ/EEG-2021/faq-beihilferechtlichen-genehmigung-eu-kommission.html
However, in response to an enquiry about this de facto moratorium for the entire industry, the BNetzA has announced that "the aid approval has not yet been granted by the EU Commission, therefore no individual decisions can be published. A decision has only been made on the bids which have been rejected".
"So I'm confident that the old saying no news is good news applies here," says Heike Kröger, Managing Director of Projekt Ökovest GmbH, commenting on the BNetzA announcement.
