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Merzig starts wind farm project: Green energy transition is gaining momentum!
The Merzig city council has decided on the basis for a wind farm between Mechern and Mondorf in order to expand renewable energies.
Merzig starts wind farm project: Green energy transition is gaining momentum!
At its most recent meeting, the Merzig city council decided on a significant step towards the realization of a wind farm between the districts of Mechern and Mondorf. This is another important building block for the expansion of renewable energies in the district town. The decision to partially amend the land use plan “Special area for wind energy use southwest of Mechern” created the planning requirements to be able to submit a specific building and operating application. Loud Saarbrücken newspaper The council voted four against and the rest in favor of the application.
With this decision, Merzig continues to focus on a consistent energy transition. The city, which now has around 30,000 inhabitants, has also initiated numerous climate protection measures in the past. Merzig has been pursuing an environmentally friendly energy policy for over 20 years. A milestone was the installation of a wood chip cogeneration plant in 2000.
Successes in climate protection
It was not without reason that Merzig was named Energy Municipality of the Month by the Renewable Energy Agency on July 30, 2020. In a resolution at the beginning of the year, the city made climate protection a top priority. The title “Climate Protection Municipality”, awarded by German Environmental Aid, has been held since 2006.
The city has also made significant progress in the area of wind energy. The first wind farm “Merchingen I” was put into operation in 2009, followed by two further wind farms since 2015, generating a total of 22.5 megawatts. This capacity secures the electricity consumption of all private households in Merzig. Another wind farm with two new wind turbines is already under construction and is scheduled to go into operation in 2021. These systems are expected to serve 6,800 households.
Sustainable energy production
Around 45 percent of the electricity consumed in Merzig is sustainably produced locally. The city also has an impressive photovoltaic infrastructure with a total output of 14 megawatts, which corresponds to around a third of the electricity sustainably produced by the municipal utilities. Since 1998, production capacities have increased continuously, with currently over 700 photovoltaic systems on municipal roofs.
Particularly noteworthy is the Fitten solar park, which produces electricity for up to 900 households every year. Merzig has also made great progress in the heating sector: the first biomethane plant was installed in 2011 and since then innovative concepts have been implemented to reduce the energy requirement in municipal buildings by up to 29 percent through the climate protection sub-concept from 2019.
How Infinite amounts of energy reports, the city is investing over two million euros to save 60,000 euros in energy costs annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 290 tons per year. The consistent focus on renewable energies impressively shows that Merzig is on the right path and continues to move forward.