Two hurdles taken at once for planned natural power plant
Two hurdles on the way to the "solar park scheblitz were taken in the last city council meeting. Martin beil from the company dietz und partner, based in elfershausen, presented the current status of planning. The developer is naturstromanlagen gmbh, a wholly owned subsidiary of naturstrom AG. The proposed site is located to the right and left of the A70 highway, west of the robdorf am berg exit. The plant is located in the "frankische schweiz – veldensteiner forst" nature reserve, which requires that some conservation requirements be taken into account.
After the city council passed a basic resolution to require the construction of photovoltaic plants only within the infrastructure corridors (110-meter strips along the highway and railroad), an expansion to 18 hectares had already been rejected in february of last year. In this context, a small part of the area was renounced in order to ensure a problem-free agricultural cultivation at the request of the landowner.
A further section was removed from the planning due to the opinion of the nature conservation authority, because it represents a "structurally and species-rich habitat complex" had affected. This in turn meant that the remaining part of the site in question had to be eliminated because, according to naturstrom AG, it was "no longer economically viable" to use it had been.
Thus, the current flat amounts to about 8.75 hectares. Of this, approximately 7.2 hectares will be used as a building site for the photovoltaic system. On the basis of the current planning, the plant has a total output of around 9.0 mwp. This will make a further contribution to achieving the climate targets in scheblitz. Due to the immediate proximity to the highway up to a distance of 110 meters, the renewable energy law (EEG) applies, according to which the yields achieved here are particularly remunerated.
In a sensitive area
As the location of the flats is a "sensitive area" the project has been coordinated with the nature conservation authorities. The necessary compensation areas have been found and agreed with the responsible nature conservation authority. According to the specifications of the water management office in kronach, naturstrom AG plans to construct the plant in such a way that no contamination of the groundwater by heavy metals is to be expected. Due to its direct location on the freeway, the freeway authorities in northern bavaria permit construction up to 20 meters from the edge of the carriageway. But an expert opinion on the glare effect had to be prepared, the results of which were incorporated into the planning process. According to this, the modules are to be aligned and turned in such a way that a dazzling effect for traffic is excluded.
The amt fur ernahrung, landwirtschaft und forsten bamberg (AELF) pointed out that adjacent farmland must be taken into account, especially with regard to distances and plantings. Seed flight emanating from the flats, which could affect agricultural flats, is to be prevented. The lower forestry authority at the AELF pointed out that the distance between tree falls should be 30 meters. Since the facility is planned to be as close as 20 meters, an exclusion of liability was agreed with the neighboring forest owners for the remaining ten meters.
In response to a question from city councillor bernhard ziegmann (CSU), how "the reconstruction is regulated, should the company ever become insolvent", masson said that the company would be able to continue to operate, the representative of naturstrom AG, who was present at the meeting, pointed out that naturstrom had provided a "reconstruction guarantee" for the project referred to.
Both the development plan and the fourth amendment to the land use plan "solarpark scheblitz were unanimously adopted with the changes and additions made at the meeting.