Wind farms in Ulrichstein

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The wind farms in Ulrichstein are several wind farms in the area of ​​the town of Ulrichstein in Hesse . The small town in Vogelsberg is known nationwide as a wind power community . Around 70 wind turbines in five individual wind farms are part of the landscape of the Ulrichstein district and its districts, and some of them also extend to the area of ​​neighboring communities. The use of wind energy began in Ulrichstein in 1994, earlier than in many other places in Hessen. In 1996 the city of Ulrichstein also commissioned Germany's first municipal wind farm. The currently (as of January 2013) most powerful cohesive wind farm in Hesse is also largely located in the city.

historical overview

Due to its location in the Hohen Vogelsberg with numerous wind-exposed ridges, Ulrichstein naturally offers favorable conditions for the use of wind energy. At the end of the 1980s, the state of Hesse and OVAG began planning the first wind farm in a German low mountain range, which was intended as a pilot project for the comparative test operation of various wind turbines. Even then, wind measurements showed the Ulrichstein area to be particularly windy . Due to the city's location in a protected landscape , the experimental wind farm ( Vogelsberg wind energy park ) was built in 1990/91 near Hartmannshain in the Grebenhain community .

In 1991, the then red-green state government ( Cabinet Eichel I ) set up the Hesse Energy Society for rational energy use as a state energy agency. The focus was on energy advice and, from 1993, on promoting renewable energies . For this purpose, the hessenWind Energieanlagen-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG for the use of wind energy (hessenWind I) was founded as a holding company. In 1994 hessenWind I set up its first wind farms near Flechtdorf (district of Diemelsee ) and on the Platte near Ulrichstein. After the pilot project at Hartmannshain, these were also among the first commercial wind farms in the State of Hesse.

In the years that followed, hessenEnergie and its affiliated companies built additional wind farms in the Ulrichstein city area. After the Hessian state election in 1999 , the newly elected CDU / FDP state government ( Koch I cabinet ) announced the sale of its shares in hessenEnergie. In 2002 the regional energy supplier OVAG finally acquired all shares in hessenEnergie. Since then, all of OVAG's activities in the field of wind energy have been carried out by hessenEnergie and its hessenWind affiliated companies, including the operation of the wind farms at Ulrichstein.

In 1996, as part of a cooperation between hessenEnergie and the city of Ulrichstein, the first wind farm in Germany to be run as a municipal company was created , also at the Auf der Platte site . Financing was provided by hessenEnergie using a factoring model. Planning and operational management were also handled by hessenEnergie. In the period that followed, the town of Ulrichstein under the then mayor Erwin Horst began to build further municipal wind farms. For his commitment to wind energy, Erwin Horst was made an honorary member by the German Wind Energy Association in 2006 . In 2002 the municipal company Stadtwerke Ulrichstein was founded, under whose roof not only the municipal wind farms but also the water supply and other municipal facilities are combined.

The income resulting from the operation of the wind farm was partly used to build the urban infrastructure or was (and is) used for cross-subsidization . In 2003, the Ulrichstein Innovation Center that as multifunctional complex dedicated town hall , community center , fire station , ambulance and city archives under one roof. The innovation center is heated by a pellet heating system and has a photovoltaic system on its roof . The wind power seminar house , which is used for seminars and educational events in the field of renewable energies, is also connected. Wind energy has meanwhile been integrated into the tourism offer of the town of Ulrichstein, among other things as part of guided tours through the Auf der Platte wind farm and the identification of the local wind energy educational path .

In addition to the wind turbines from hessenEnergie and the city of Ulrichstein, as well as a private investor from the region (Vogelsberger Windenergie Bohn & Co. OHG) , some systems are also operated based on the community wind farm model . In March 2009 the Bürgerwind Ulrichstein Betriebs GmbH & Co. KG was founded, to which 137 citizens from Ulrichstein and other communities in the Vogelsbergkreis belong as limited partners . Another community wind farm project is to be implemented by Bürgerwind Zwirnberg GmbH & Co. KG , founded in early 2012 .

Currently (as of January 2013) there are five individual wind farms with a total of 72 individual wind turbines and a total installed nominal output of 89.9 MW in the urban area of ​​Ulrichstein (including neighboring markings) . It is to be expected that the total output (less the total number of turbines) will increase significantly in the next few years, since repowering is planned or has already been carried out for the older wind farms . The feeding the power generated via its own substation of OVAG Netz AG in Ulrichstein, completed the beginning of 1997 and was extended in the 2011th

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Panorama of the “Goldner Steinrück” wind farm near Ulrichstein-Helpershain from the west in June 2012

Descriptions

Wind farm "Auf der Platte"

The “Auf der Platte” wind farm is the oldest wind farm in the city and is located on the 558 m high slab northeast of the Ober-Seibertenrod district. In December 1994, six wind turbines from the Danish manufacturer Micon (merged in 1997 with Nordtank Energy Group to form NEG Micon and taken over by Vestas in 2004 ) were initially put into operation. It was the Micon M700-225 type with a nominal output of 225 kW each. Operated were the investments by the hessenENERGIE through its subsidiary Hesse wind I . Immediately after the hessenEnergie plants were installed, in July 1996 the city of Ulrichstein commissioned its first municipal wind farm with four Micon M1500-500 plants with a nominal output of 500 kW each (Ulrichstein municipal wind farm) . At the same time, hessenEnergie built three further plants, two of the Micon M700-225 and one of the Micon M1500-500. These were built as a replacement for a third hessenWind I wind farm, which was originally planned for Zorn (district of Heidenrod ) in the Taunus , but encountered resistance from local politicians there.

These first wind turbines still had a relatively low output compared to the current state of the art. At the end of 2011, hessenEnergie began completely repowering the wind farm. This also includes the four systems from Stadtwerke Ulrichstein, which were purchased by hessenEnergie. After the thirteen old systems were dismantled, the construction of seven new Enercon E-82 E2 systems began. With a hub height of 138 m, these have a nominal output of 2.3 MW each. After repowering, the operator of the wind farm was exclusively hessenEnergie through the holding company hessenWind VI , as Stadtwerke Ulrichstein waived a stake (three plants) for financial reasons. With the dissolution of hessenWind VI on December 18, 2013, the operation of the wind farm was taken over by the company's only limited partner, ovag Energie AG .

A profit participation loan which is energy cooperative Vogelsberg eG co-financers of the 28 million euro project. The new plants were built in autumn 2012 and put into operation one after the other from the end of December 2012. The total nominal output is now 16.1 MW (before repowering 4.5 MW), which arithmetically can cover the annual electricity requirements of up to 14,000 households. The official key handover took place on December 23, 2012.

The “Auf der Platte” wind farm also includes the Ulrichstein town's wind energy educational trail, which is to be redesigned after repowering has been completed.

"Alte Höhe" wind farm

The location of this wind park is the 535 m high Alte Höhe between the districts Wohnfeld and Altenhain , which belongs to the city of Laubach . It consists of a total of twelve systems. Ten of these plants of the type NEG Micon NM 60/1000 with a hub height of 70 m and a nominal output of 1 MW each were put into operation in September 2000. Six plants are operated by Stadtwerke Ulrichstein, two each by hessenEnergie (hessenWind Alte Höhe GmbH) and Bürgerwind Ulrichstein. In June 2011 two new Enercon E-82 E2 wind turbines, owned by hessenEnergie, followed, increasing the total nominal output of the wind farm to 14.6 MW.

  • General view of the "Alte Höhe" wind farm from the east

  • Wind turbines on the "old height"

  • NEG Micon NM 60/1000 from Stadtwerke Ulrichstein

  • NEG Micon NM 60/1000 community wind turbine

  • Enercon E-82 E2 from hessenEnergie

  • Construction of the new systems in the "Auf der Platte" wind farm

"Goldner Steinrück" wind farm

The largest and most powerful wind farm both in the area of ​​the city of Ulrichstein and in the state of Hesse is located on the 578 m high Goldnen Steinrück east of the Helpershain district. It partially extends to the districts of Dirlammen, Engelrod and Meiches, which already belong to the neighboring municipality of Lautertal . Due to the large number of operators and plant types as well as the individual construction phases, the “Goldner Steinrück” wind farm can be clearly characterized as a “grown wind farm”.

On the Goldnen Steinrück , hessenEnergie first installed six Micon M1500-500 wind turbines through its holding company hessenWind II , which were put into operation in July 1996 as the Ulrichstein-Helpershain wind farm . To the south of it, the city of Ulrichstein, in cooperation with hessenEnergie, implemented its second municipal wind farm in 1997, called the Helpershain municipal wind farm . This consists of eight Wind World W4200 turbines with a nominal output of 600 kW each. These systems were supplied by a Danish company that later became NEG Micon. Furthermore, five plants of the type Enercon E-40 / 5.40 were built.

In 2000 Energiekontor AG built four AN Bonus 1300/62 wind turbines (nominal output each 1.3 MW) as Engelrod wind farm on the Goldnen Steinrück, but already in the Engelrod district . Since these systems are directly connected to those of Stadtwerke Ulrichstein, they are to be regarded as part of the wind farm. Two wind turbines of the types DeWind D6 / 62 (nominal output 1 MW) and Nordex N62 (nominal output 1.3 MW) from private operators were added in 2001. At the same time, Energiekontor installed eight AN Bonus 1300/62 systems on the eastern slope of the Goldnen Steinrück in the district of Dirlammen. They were spatially clearly separated from the plants built up to then and form the company's Dirlammen wind farm .

In spring 2011, hessenEnergie and Bürgerwind Ulrichstein began installing new wind turbines from the manufacturer Enercon in the forest to the north and east of the existing wind farm area as the Helpershain-Meiches wind farm . There are seven Enercon E-82 E2 systems that were finally put into operation in November 2011. Four of the plants are owned by hessenEnergie (via ovag Energie AG ), three by Bürgerwind Ulrichstein. At this point in time, all 40 systems from all four operators of the wind farm had a total nominal output of 44.3 MW.

Due to the large number of wind turbines visible from afar, the wind park on the Goldnen Steinrück is perceived by the public both positively as a symbol for the expansion of renewable energies and the energy transition and negatively as a " spoilage of the landscape " and a threat to the native bird life . For example, on July 31, 2007, the then Hessian SPD top candidate Andrea Ypsilanti and the designated Minister for Economic Affairs and Environment and Eurosolar President Hermann Scheer visited the wind farm as part of an election campaign before the 2008 state elections .

The NABU criticized in particular the expansion of the wind farm with the seven new Enercon E-82 E2 turbines, which reach a height of almost 180 m, and whose construction was approved by the Giessen Regional Council in February 2011 . According to NABU, they block a gap that is important for species protection between the previous wind farm at Helpershain and the Energiekontor facilities at Dirlammen, 3 km away . An urgent application by NABU against the construction of the facilities was rejected by the Gießen Administrative Court in September 2011. Thereupon the NABU regional association Hessen filed a lawsuit before the Hessian administrative court in Kassel. In its judgment of May 20, 2012, the latter temporarily suspended the operating license for five of the seven new plants, which were then shut down until further notice. In contrast, hessenEnergie, as co-operator of the systems, refers to the previous approval of the systems by the regional council and extensive compensatory measures, especially for the black stork that occurs in the vicinity of the wind farm .

After an out-of-court agreement between the NABU regional association Hessen on the one hand and the operators hessenEnergie and Bürgerwind Ulrichstein on the other hand, the five Enercon E-82 E2s were able to go back into operation on December 1, 2012. While NABU withdrew its lawsuit, the two wind farm operators undertook to set up a fund of initially 500,000 euros to secure and create habitats for the red kite . Due to the six-month shutdown of the five plants, the operators had to record revenue losses of around one million euros.

In spring 2012, the construction of three more wind turbines began in the district of Dirlammen. Two of these are again of the Enercon E-82 E2 type, which was put into operation in October 2012. A third system is of the Enercon E-101 type with a hub height of 135 m and a nominal output of 3 MW. It was completed in September 2013 and is the first system in this performance class in the entire Vogelsberg. Operators of the new facilities ( wind farm Dirlammen ) is the Cerventus Natural Energy GmbH , a joint venture of the EVO and the project designer juwi . After the commissioning of the Enercon E-101, the total nominal output of the “Goldner Steinrück” wind farm will reach 51.9 MW.

The Energiekontor company planned to repower its four plants in the Engelrod district by the end of 2014, whereby the three new plants should achieve an output of 2.4 to 3.4 MW each. Similar to the case of other wind farm projects in the Vogelsberg district, the local group of a regional citizens' initiative founded in 2012 was formed which, in addition to the change in the landscape, complained about the inefficiency of wind energy in the Vogelsberg and possible damage to health through noise emissions.

  • Overall view of the “Goldner Steinrück” wind farm, Engelrod in the foreground

  • Systems from various manufacturers and operators at Engelrod

  • AN Bonus 1300/62 from Energiekontor AG

  • Wind World W4200 from Stadtwerke Ulrichstein

  • Nordex N62 on the "Goldnen Steinrück"

  • Two Enercon E-82 E2, in front of them older Enercon and Micon systems

  • Enercon E-82 E2 from hessenEnergie and Bürgerwind Ulrichstein

"Ulrichsteiner Kreuz" wind farm

The name of this wind farm is derived from the intersection of state roads 3073 and 3139 near the Selgenhof domain, southeast of the city center. The wind farm operated by Vogelsberger Windenergie Bohn, a private investor from the region, was built in 1997/98 and initially expanded in 2003. It consists of a system of the types AN Bonus 1000/54 (nominal output 1 MW) and Enercon E-58 (nominal output 1 MW) as well as three systems of the type Enercon E-66 18.70 (nominal output 1.8 MW each). The latest Enercon E-82 E2 system went online in March 2011. The total nominal output of all six plants together is 9.7 MW.

An expansion of the wind farm is planned, with the two Enercon E-101 turbines going into operation in 2014. These are built by Stadtwerke Ulrichstein. The newly founded Bürgerwind Zwirnberg also wants to build up to four more turbines. A further designation of additional areas for wind turbines up to the Sieben Ahorn in the Oberwald has meanwhile been rejected by the Ulrichstein city ​​council .

Opponents of the project are among others the neighboring city of Schotten, which fears losses in tourism due to the construction of the wind turbines and sees this as an interference with their own communal development goals, which are primarily geared towards tourism. This is rejected by the town of Ulrichstein.

Rebgeshain wind farm

The smallest Ulrichstein wind farm is located west of the Rebgeshain district and consists of three Enercon E-40 / 5.40 wind turbines and one Nordex N54 Mk2 with a total nominal output of 2.5 MW. The systems were built and put into operation in autumn 1996 as the first by Vogelsberger Windenergie Bohn.

  • General view of the Rebgeshain wind farm

  • Enercon E-40 / 5.40 in the Rebgeshain wind farm

  • Nordex N54 Mk2 in the Rebgeshain wind farm

  • General view of the "Ulrichsteiner Kreuz" wind farm

List of wind farms

designation Construction year Total
power (MW) 		Number of wind farms Plant types (number) District Coordinates Operating company Remarks
"Alte Höhe" wind farm 2000
2011 		14.6 12 Enercon E-82 E2 (2 ×)
NEG Micon NM60 / 1000 (10 ×) 		Living area 50 ° 33 ′ 27 ″  N , 9 ° 8 ′ 9 ″  E Bürgerwind Ulrichstein
Stadtwerke Ulrichstein
hessenEnergie GmbH
Wind farm "Auf der Platte" 1994
1996
2012 		16.1 7th Enercon E-82 E2 (7 ×) Ober-Seibertenrod 50 ° 35 ′ 47 "  N , 9 ° 10 ′ 35"  E hessenEnergie GmbH
Vogelsberg Energy Cooperative 		Repowering 2012 (previously 8 × Micon M700-225 and 5 × Micon M1500-500), until then also municipal wind farm (1996-2011)
"Goldner Steinrück" wind farm 1996–1997
1998
2000–2001
2011
2012–2013 		51.9 43 AN Bonus 1300/62 (12 ×)
DeWind D6 / 62 (1 ×)
Enercon E-40 / 5.40 (5 ×)
Enercon E-82 E2 (9 ×)
Enercon E-101 (1 ×)
Micon M1500-500 (6 ×)
Nordex N62 (1 ×)
Wind World W4200 (8 ×) 		Dirlammen
Engelrod
Helpershain
Meiches 		50 ° 36 ′ 11 "  N , 9 ° 14 ′ 38"  E BMO Windenergie Engelrod
Bürgerwind Ulrichstein
Cerventus Naturenergie GmbH
Energiekontor AG
hessenEnergie GmbH
Stadtwerke Ulrichstein
Rebgeshain wind farm 1996 2.5 4th Enercon E-40 / 5.40 (3 ×)
Nordex N54 Mk2 (1 ×) 		Vine grove 50 ° 34 ′ 20 ″  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 29 ″  E Vogelsberger Windenergie Bohn
"Ulrichsteiner Kreuz" wind farm 1997–1998
2003
2011 		9.7 6th AN Bonus 1000/54 (1 ×)
Enercon E-58 (1 ×)
Enercon E-66 18.70 (3 ×)
Enercon E-82 E2 (1 ×) 		Ulrichstein 50 ° 33 '38 "  N , 9 ° 13' 12"  E Vogelsberger Windenergie Bohn Expansion planned (6 × Enercon E-101 )

See also

literature

  • Erwin Horst: Public acceptance of wind power plants , in: Hessian Academy of Research and Planning in Rural Areas (Hg.): Wind energy use in Hessen. Experiences, problems, opportunities and perspectives , Bad Karlshafen 1996 (writings of the HAL, vol. 12), pp. 15–29
  • Erik Siefart: Hessen-Wind I wind farms in Ulrichstein and at Diemelsee. The activities of Hessen-Energie in the field of wind power use , in: Hessian Academy of Research and Planning in Rural Areas (Hg.): Windenergieenergie in Hessen. Experiences, problems, opportunities and perspectives , Bad Karlshafen 1996 (HAL writings, vol. 12), pp. 120–128

Web links

Commons : Wind farms in Ulrichstein  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Contents: Baedeker Germany - discover renewable energies , DNB 1008732621
  2. ↑ a b Brochure 20 Years of Hesse ENERGY (PDF; 6.2 MB)
  3. ^ Federal Wind Energy Association - honorary members
  4. ↑ Alsfelder Allgemeine from October 31, 2011
  5. ↑ Company regulations of the city of Ulrichstein (PDF; 52 kB)
  6. ↑ Renewable Energies Schotten e. V. ( Memento from November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Seminar house Windkraft Ulrichstein
  8. ^ Website of the city of Ulrichstein - Tourism
  9. ↑ Kulturverein Storndorf - History Bürgerwind Ulrichstein
  10. ↑ a b Osthessen News from May 29, 2012
  11. ↑ Erik Siefart: Hessen-Wind I wind farms in Ulrichstein and at Diemelsee, in: HAL, vol. 12, p. 123.
  12. ↑ Osthessen News from November 24, 2010
  13. ↑ Osthessen News from July 28, 2012
  14. ↑ Osthessen News from December 23, 2012
  15. ↑ a b Energiekontor AG - Wind farms on the grid ( Memento from July 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Definition of a "wind farm" according to the judgment of the BVerwG of June 30, 2004
  17. ↑ Osthessen News from July 31, 2007
  18. ^ Osthessen News February 18, 2012
  19. ↑ Osthessen News from February 25, 2012
  20. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau of June 5, 2012
  21. ↑ Statement by hessenEnergie on the VGH judgment of June 5, 2012 ( Memento of November 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 58 kB)
  22. ↑ hessenEnergie - Presentation of Black Stork Habitat Measures ( Memento from July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 8.1 MB)
  23. ^ Osthessen News from December 4, 2012
  24. ↑ Lautertal community - updates from August 31, 2012
  25. ↑ Lautertal community - updated May 21, 2013
  26. ↑ a b hr-online.de - Hesse energy map ( Memento from April 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ Osthessen News from February 12, 2012
  28. ↑ Gießener Anzeiger from June 13, 2013 ( Memento from August 15, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  29. ↑ Lauterbacher Anzeiger from June 21, 2013 ( Memento from August 15, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )