City Councilor Olsberg rejects large wind farm plans with a clear majority!

City Councilor Olsberg rejects large wind farm plans with a clear majority!

at the meeting of the city council Olsberg on January 31, 2025, a large majority voted against the development of three planned wind farms in the city area. This is reported by the Sauerland Kurier . The company Eurowind Energy GmbH had presented projects in Helmeringhausen and Wulmeringhausen with three wind turbines each, which should be 250 meters high, as well as in Bruchhausen and Wiemeringhausen, where four wind turbines were also planned 250 meters high. The city council decided to refuse the "community agreement" for these projects.

The reasons for the rejection were diverse. An essential point was the uncertainty regarding the safe development of the wind turbines. In addition, it was pointed out that the access routes planned for the operation of the wind farms were not suitable for maintenance and emergency operations. In addition, the locations of the wind farms were outside the areas defined in the regional plan. The city council also emphasized the importance of municipal self -government in the energy transition.

other projects in the focus

Mayor Wolfgang Fischer critically commented on another RWE wind farm project, which provides for four wind turbines with a height of 266.50 meters on Langerberg. He described this project as questionable and expressed concerns about realizability, especially with regard to planned changes in federal and state legislation. While the city council gave a "limited agreement" to this RWE project, one was only limited to certain legal findings.

Criticism also came from the FDP parliamentary group leader Dominik Stahl, who accused RWE a "legal salami tactic", the CDU parliamentary group also announced that they would refuse to agree with wind power projects outside the areas defined in the regional plan. This shows the strong distrust of wind power projects outside of planned zones.

photovoltaics as an alternative solution

In order to meet the challenges of the energy transition, the city of Olsberg plans to work out solutions for open space photovoltaic systems. A criteria catalog for this type of energy generation is to be treated and built in one of the upcoming meetings of the committee.

In a further context, Juwi AG applies for seven wind turbines in Olsberg under the project names Mannstein I and Mannstein II. These applications fall under the Federal Immission Protection Act (BImSchG). The Hochsauerlandkreis is currently checking the objections and will discuss them. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the discussions are not unusual as a face-to-face event, but are replaced by online consultations, as Hochsauerlandkreis.de . The corresponding information can be viewed and commented by authorized participants up to a specified date.