Saxony's first large community wind turbine (Bürgerwindrad)

Saxony has its first cooperative wind turbine (Genossenschaftswindrad)! The NEOS WIND 1 is a type E 101 wind turbine from Enercon and replaces two small DeWind 48 turbines through repowering. NEOS WIND 1 has a rated output of 3.05 megawatts and can supply 2,500 Saxon households with green electricity.

The hub height of the wind turbine is 135 meters. The wind conditions at the site can be easily assessed, as previous yield values can be used as a reference. Two independent wind reports predict a yield of 6 million kilowatt-hours per year based on conservative estimates. This means that the annual electricity yield can be increased by a factor of 8-9.

The project was reviewed from a technical, economic, and legal perspective by the independent consulting institute Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Niedersachsen eG, a subsidiary of the German Volksbanken. With Wülknitz Mayor Hannes Clauß, there is a committed local partner. The access road was completed by the Streumen-based construction company (THS) before the Saxon company Terraform GmbH could begin work on the foundation.

With a diameter of over 20 meters and a depth of 3.70 meters, the foundation ensures that the plant is securely anchored. The Großenhain surveying office Kießling Großenhain checked the exact compliance with the planned coordinates after each construction phase. In June 2015, the plant was delivered from the Magdeburg factory of the German market leader Enercon. On November 11, 2015, the plant fed its first electricity into the grid.

After 300 hours of trial operation, a complete maintenance was carried out and the plant has been in continuous operation since December 2015. The project developer and general contractor is Aufwind GmbH, headquartered in Friedrichshafen. Hans-Peter Grafe from the Aufwind office in Prösen/Elsterwerda is responsible for the site. Aufwind has been successfully planning wind energy projects on the market since 1997. Such projects can only succeed through cooperation between the city and the state – NEOS WIND 1 is another example of this.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Why is the energy cooperative still collecting money when the wind turbine is already in place? 

The cooperative has a chicken-and-egg problem. Until the contracts were signed at the end of February 2015, it was not certain whether the “Bürgerwindrad-Projekt” would even come to fruition. This meant that it was not possible to advertise for citizen participation.

After the contracts were signed, the excavators rolled in the next day and the first money had to be paid – no one can raise money that quickly. That's why a financing partner helped out and granted an interim financing loan, which will be repaid bit by bit by the citizens who are now actively financing the project until the end of 2018.

• How much money has already been raised?

As of February 1, 2017, nearly 200 citizens have invested €1,210,000 in the wind turbine. The upper limit for citizen participation is €2.5 million.

• How can I participate?

First, you have to become a co-operative member. With a one-time contribution of €50 to the cooperative, you have one vote and can help shape the energy transition. Every co-operative member can support our NEOS Wind1 project with a subordinated loan. This subordinated loan has a fixed interest rate of at least 3.5%.

• Who organizes all this?

The main work is done by the board of the Energiegenossenschaft and the supervisory board. The work is organized entirely on a voluntary basis. However, there is a larger circle of supporters, so that some tasks are distributed among several cooperative members. The board is accountable to the members at the general meeting.

Adress:
Energiegenossenschaft Neue Energien Ostsachsen eG (egNEOS)
Schützengasse 16
01067 Dresden

Telephon: 0351/4943515
Homepage: www.egneos.de
E-mail: vorstand(at)egneos.de    
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