Citizen and municipal participation
Participation takes many forms. In addition to informal participation within the planning process, it is of course also about economic participation. In other words, ensuring that residents and communities in the vicinity of wind farms benefit appropriately from local wind power generation. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the economic participation of citizens and municipalities has even been regulated by state law since 2016, and there are also nationwide and ENERTRAG's own voluntary options.
The various forms of participation:
Participation in accordance with Section 6 EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act)
As part of the 2021 amendment to the EEG, Section 6 makes it possible to offer municipalities within a radius of 2,500 meters of new wind turbines a unilateral grant or financial participation without consideration. The law does not yet apply retroactively to existing wind farms, but only to newly commissioned WTGs. The grant fulfills the following important criteria: It is to be offered voluntarily and is not earmarked for a specific purpose, it is not included in the calculation of the district levy and is paid annually over the entire 20-year EEG term of the WTG. The amount of the payment depends on the annual amount of energy fed into the grid by the WTG. ENERTRAG regularly offers this voluntary contribution to all municipalities in the specific project areas and is also willing to do so in this specific project.
ENERTRAG is planning an annual energy feed-in volume of 15,000 megawatt hours (MWh) for the Bonnhagen project. This feed-in quantity multiplied by the amount of EUR 2 per megawatt hour (0.2 cents/kWh) payable under Section 6 of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) results in a calculated sum of EUR 30,000 per year, which in turn will be divided proportionately according to the municipal area or the area of the surrounding municipalities within a 2.5 km radius of the respective wind turbine, and will be paid to the municipalities annually for the duration of the operation of the wind turbine.
Citizen and Community Participation Act
The M-V Citizen and Community Participation Act obliges project promoters to offer shares of at least 20 percent in new wind farms to local residents and communities within a five-kilometer radius. Each share may cost a maximum of 500 euros.
Alternatively, a combination of an annual equalization levy for municipalities and a savings product for residents can also be offered. This reduces the risk for municipalities and residents. When acquiring shares in the wind farm company, both profits and losses from a project must be borne as part of the respective investment. The equalization levy for municipalities is fixed and is calculated on the basis of the profit expected from a 10% stake in the company. It is paid out annually and must be earmarked for infrastructure and energy-saving measures. In the case of the savings product for citizens, the minimum interest rate is also calculated on the basis of the wind farm yield.
Further information on the law is available from the State Energy and Climate Protection Agency M-V: www.leka-mv.de/Beteiligung/
Wind power bonus
ENERTRAG regularly offers a voluntary wind power bonus. Anyone who is a neighbor of an ENERTRAG wind farm, lives in the municipality of Stepenitztal and opts for a green electricity tariff from one of ENERTRAG's partner energy suppliers receives a discount on their electricity costs.
A bonus with which a discounted green electricity tariff (provided by partner municipal utilities), which is subsidized by ENERTRAG, is offered directly to the citizens of the municipality of Stepenitztal. Interested citizens can take out this green electricity tariff and apply for the wind power bonus directly from ENERTRAG. ENERTRAG will then pay out the bonus once per contract year directly to the customer's or citizen's account.