Heap of kidneys

Location of the dump between Weisweiler and Langerwehe

The Nierchen heap is a 70 m high, partially overgrown heap between Eschweiler and Langerwehe in western North Rhine-Westphalia . It is 223 m above sea level, covers an area of 140.46 hectares and has been used as a wind farm with nine wind turbines and for agriculture since 1998 . The high-speed line Cologne – Aachen runs on its northern and northwestern slopes .

history

Like the Sophienhöhe and Vollrather Höhe , the Nierchen heap was filled up as an external dump by means of spreaders and then conveyor belts. The exploration material came from the Inden opencast mine to the north , which was opened in 1957. 37.337 million m³ of overburden and 1.453 million m³ of loess were accommodated . 87.34 ha outer slopes were planted and the 51,20 hectare plateau with 2 m loess covered. This reclamation work ended in 1973.

Wind farm

A wind farm with nine wind turbines has been located on the Nierchen tip since 1998 , manufactured by the Rostock company Nordex SE and owned and operated by Energiekontor AG from Bremen . Each plant is of the type N54 / 1000 and has an output of a megawatt ; the total output of the wind farm is therefore nine megawatts. The operator was planning to replace the nine existing systems with a height of 90 meters each with four new systems with a height of up to 150 meters. Three systems were to be placed on the west side and one on the east side. The planned wind turbines would have had a lower frequency of rotation, adjustable rotor blades and lighting at the top of the tower. The modernization of the wind farm should more than double electricity production. The commissioning of the new facilities was not planned before the end of 2015. On February 9, 2017, the planning, environmental and construction committee of the city of Eschweiler decided against repowering.