Nordkirchen wind project

ENERTRAG is planning to erect three wind turbines on the outskirts of the municipality of Nordkirchen, on Münsterstrasse at Meinhövels Holz/Piekenbrock and to the west of the district of Capelle at Gorbach (Altendorf).

ENERTRAG began developing the wind farm at the start of 2018. The project has progressed very well with the recruitment of local project partners, the informal involvement of local politicians and the completion of numerous studies and expert reports in preparation for the permit application. With the receipt of the first permit at the end of last year and the expected receipt of the other two permits this year, this website has now been launched to provide ongoing public information on the progress of the project.

The three planned wind turbines will produce more than 35,000 MWh of clean electricity per year. The municipality of Nordkirchen currently has around 10,600 inhabitants and 180 businesses. On balance, every household could be supplied with locally generated, sustainable energy and 2/3 of the electricity generated would be available for trade and industry. This would result in annual savings of around 30,000 tons of CO2 compared to electricity generated from fossil fuels.

ENERTRAG is thus acting for a clean and secure future for the benefit of the people in the country and future generations on the basis of 100% renewable energies.

Approval for a further plant at Gorfelds Placken

05/17/2024

The permit for a further plant at Gorfelds Placken was published on 05/15/2024

The district administrator of the Coesfeld district has given the green light for the construction and operation of a new wind turbine called "ENERTRAG AB C1" in Nordkirchen Altendorf. The permit was issued on 02.05.2024 and also includes other official conditions relating to environmental protection and occupational health and safety.

The official gazette can be downloaded here: Official Gazette Coesfeld

Locations and planning area

The planning area is located on private land in the town of Nordkirchen (Coesfeld district, NRW). It lies to the north-west of the town of Nordkirchen and to the west of the village of Capelle.

The sites are located entirely in the former potential areas that the municipality of Nordkirchen provided for in the last partial update of the land use plan (FNP). This FNP does not have any exclusionary effect, meaning that our project is permitted in the outdoor area in accordance with Section 35 of the German Civil Code (BGB). A wind turbine is included in the original backdrop of the regional plan of the Münster administrative district. The Münster regional plan is currently being adapted and revised in line with the changes to the regional development plan. In the participation process for the first draft last year, 1200 comments* with over 4000 individual suggestions were received. These are currently being evaluated (as of March 2024). The discussion and revision of the draft plan will take place in summer 2024. At the end of 2024, there will be a second participation procedure in which comments on the planned areas can be submitted again. As the areas planned here are fundamentally suitable, we are actively participating in the process of developing the Münster regional plan.

Source: Münster district government - Münsterland regional plan: 1,200 comments (bezreg-muenster.de)

Planning status - What has happened so far

At the beginning of 2018, a planning concept was initially drawn up and the optimal locations in the potential areas of the municipality of Nordkirchen were identified. The noise and shadow impact and the potential energy yield were then evaluated as part of further project development.

Since spring 2019, the company ecoda has been investigating the impact of the planning on flora and fauna in the study area on behalf of ENERTRAG. All necessary investigations were carried out by continuously mapping wind energy-sensitive species.

The application documents were completed between mid-2021 and the end of 2021. Among other things, further expert reports were commissioned and discussions were held with the relevant authorities regarding the scope of the application documents.

Parallel to the planning law process, the political groups represented in the municipal council were informed about the planning project in the early stages and discussions were offered.

Personal discussions were held with the municipal administration at various times over the past few years.

We presented ourselves and the project at a building committee meeting back in 2019. Finally, parts of the project were presented to the municipality and the building committee in summer 2023 and at the beginning of this year.

Approval procedure and timetable

The approval procedure in accordance with Section 4 of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) takes place in the carrier procedure. This means that the immission control authority of the district of Coesfeld manages the procedure and involves various public interest bodies (TÖB).

These are authorities such as the lower nature conservation authority or the responsible road construction authorities, environmental associations such as NABU or BUND, but also the town of Nordkirchen. The town is involved in particular because the procedure sometimes deals with the issue of construction planning law.

The town of Nordkirchen has granted its municipal consent for all 3 wind turbines.

All objections raised by the public authorities are finally weighed up by the approval authority. A decision on the application will then be announced by the immission control authority.

The permit for the first plant at Meinhövels Holz was published in the Coesfeld district's official gazette on 30.06.2023. The official gazette can be downloaded at the following link: ab2316.pdf (kreis-coesfeld.de)

System technology

2 wind turbines are of the Enercon E-138 EP3 E2 type, each with a rated output of 4.2 MW, a hub height of 130 m and a rotor diameter of 138 m. The total height is 199 m. The total height is 199 m.

The 3rd wind turbine is of the Nordex N149 type with a rated output of 5.7 MW, a hub height of 125.4 m and a rotor diameter of 149 m. The total height is therefore 200 m.

Citizen and municipal participation

As announced at the building committee meeting on 27.02.2024, ENERTRAG would like to voluntarily offer the opportunity to participate in one of the wind turbines. To this end, a contact form will be set up here in the coming weeks, which interested citizens of the municipality of Nordkirchen can use to express their interest without obligation. We will shortly be discussing the form of the participation opportunity with the municipality and local banks.

Participation according to §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 35,000 megawatt hours (MWh) for the Nordkirchen 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 German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) results in a calculated sum of an estimated EUR 70,000 per year, which in turn will be divided proportionately according to the area of the surrounding municipalities within a 2.5 km radius of the respective wind turbine and paid to the municipalities annually over the period of operation of the wind turbine.