Mansbach wind farm.
Compatibility of ecology and economy.
The Mansbach wind farm, which is currently in operation, is located on agricultural land north-east of the municipality of Mansbach in Hesse. Five Nordex N149 wind turbines have been installed. All turbines were put into operation on April 12, 2023.
With the Mansbach wind farm, we are seizing the opportunity to make our contribution to the energy transition and thus combine ecology and economy. We are supplying safe, clean energy and investing in Germany as a business location. As part of the approval process, suitable measures were identified to minimize and compensate for the impact on nature and the environment.
Our measures.
Environment & nature conservation.
Currently, the turbines must be switched off permanently from sunrise to sunset between March 1 and August 31 of each year to protect the red kite in accordance with an ancillary provision of the permit. We want to optimize these long shutdown periods in accordance with new legal rulings in order to optimize the generation of green electricity in line with species protection.
To protect bats, the wind turbines will be switched off from 1 April to 31 October one hour before sunset and one hour after sunrise in accordance with an ancillary provision of the permit application if the following weather conditions are met at nacelle height: a wind speed of six meters per second. wind speed of six meters per second or less and an air temperature of 10 degrees Celsius or more.
During the night period (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), a turbine is operated in a reduced mode so as not to exceed the permissible immission level.
In order to reduce night-time light pollution, a demand-controlled night-time marking system (BNK) is currently being installed. This ensures that the systems only switch on the night-time lighting when a flying object is approaching.
We invest in the region and in Germany.
Regional value creation.
The wind turbines also secure a long-term income for the local communities whose municipal area is located within a 2.5-kilometre radius of the center of a wind turbine tower: They receive a voluntary allowance of 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour generated. This corresponds to approximately euro 30,000 to euro 40,000 per year and per wind turbine for modern wind power turbines.
In addition, PNE AG has a support association together with committed local citizens. Approximately 60 percent of the landowners entitled to leases have agreed to donate 10 percent of their annual lease income to the association in order to promote local charitable purposes and thus allow the entire community of Mansbach to participate in the wind farm leases. PNE AG has also agreed to donate a fixed amount per wind turbine.