EnBW, GAIA get permit for nine-turbine wind farm in Germany

German electric utility EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (ETR:EBK) and project developer GAIA mbH have received a permit for the construction of the Hochwald wind farm in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate after an approval process that lasted eight years.

The two partners are now allowed to install nine wind turbines in the district of Trier-Saarburg, in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, GAIA said earlier this week. The installation of a tenth turbine was not permitted.

The wind farm is expected to generate 70 million kWh of green electricity per year, which is enough to supply more than 20,000 households with an average consumption of 3,500 kWh and save some 47,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year.

The permission was granted after clearing environmental concerns about the effect of the wind farm on the barbastels that were found in the region in 2013 and black storks.

GAIA and EnBW are now preparing to start construction works to ensure that everything runs smoothly until commissioning, said Dominik Eichert, a project manager at GAIA.

This is not the first project to be implemented jointly by the two companies. In 2018, they commissioned the Kahlberg wind farm in the state of Hesse which features five Nordex turbines each with 3.3 MW output.

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