Wind energy Fruges wind farm: Blowing strong in the North of

Well distributed: The wind farm project in Fruges (North- ern France) comprises 70 tur- bines erected at 16 individual sites. Photos (4): Martin Frey

In the northernmost corner of France, the constant winds Good progress despite supply delays

which sweep the countryside from the nearby English Chan- The office is as always a hive of busy activity, because so nel are soon to be exploited to generate electricity in grand far only 39 of the planned 70 turbines are already on grid. Office manager Jean-Marie Van Vooren has his style. The project involves a total of 70 wind turbines with a hands full to organise the further completion of the project. He is presently weathering out a two-and-a- combined output capacity of 140 MW, making it the largest half-month interruption to deliveries – manufacturer wind farm in the country. S&WE visited the project site and Enercon is currently supplying another project in Bel- gium, and so Fruges must wait. But everything should spoke with both planners and the local mayor. get going again soon. “You have to be able to juggle things around in such cases”, he says, shrugging his shoulders. ruges is the new Mecca of the French wind energy But nerves of steel are necessary in any case if you scene. But without a car, you may find it difficult to are planning to take on responsibility for such a project: actually reach France’s wind energy attraction no. The Fruges wind farm will eventually comprise 70 Ener- 1. The railway station in the little town of con E-70 turbines. The total installed capacity of 140 (see map on page 172) leaves you still well short of MW is to be divided between 16 individual sites be- Fyour destination. The train departs, and the station mas- longing to eight different communities around Fruges. ter informs you sullenly that there is only one return train Seventeen hectares of land have been set aside. De- a day - in the afternoon. A timetable is apparently not spite the enormous scope of the project, the wind tur- considered necessary. It is certainly useful to have booked bines are spread very generously across the landscape. a hotel – and to bring along plenty of time! It is not easy to gain a feel for the dimensions of this The last 20 km can only be covered by taxi. For about mammoth project, because there is practically no sin- 20 minutes, the road runs through a rural landscape gle point from which it will be possible to survey the dotted with small villages, the so-called Seven Valleys whole farm once it is completed – and especially on a region. Then an industrial park appears, and you drive hazy day like today. dead-straight on to Fruges. This is where Strasbourg- The Fruges wind farm will one day generate 300 mil- based Ostwind International has set up its regional of- lion kWh electricity a year, equivalent to the typical con- fice. sumption of around 100,000 households. That will also

176 Sun & Wind Energy 6/2008 wind energy

permit an annual saving of some 264,000 tonnes CO2. Street scene in Fruges: The For Ostwind, it is the largest project in the history of the wind farm project has giv- company to date. Almost 400 km of cable have been en the community new fi- buried within the farm, forming four independent sub- nancial freedoms. They are grids, each of which is connected to its own new sub- being used to make the station. Van Vooren praises the good cooperation with town more attractive for the central French grid operator Electricité de France young people and families. (EDF): “The grid connection was planned by EDF and fi- nanced by Ostwind”, says the project manager, “and everything has been running perfectly.” The overall project represents an investment volume of € 210 million and was financed essentially by four major investors, namely by Ostwind itself, the NGE uted very constructively”, said Fabien Kayser, director of group from Tarascon in the South of France, by Global Ostwind International, at the opening of the wind farm Energías Renovables SL (Spain) and the asset manage- in mid-February. Originally, it had been planned to erect ment group Babcock & Brown. Gisela Wendling-Lenz twice as many turbines (134 in total, with a combined and Ulrich Lenz, the international group managers at capacity of 225 MW). The regional prefecture, however, Ostwind, were delighted at the official inauguration at cut the project back to its present scope. And that was the beginning of the year: “We are really pleased that not the only stumbling block: At one point, legal action our development work has here fallen on fertile ground filed against the project almost rendered the whole and that we are now seeing the first visible returns.” planning worthless. But Ostwind entered a successful appeal. Construction work finally began in November The mayor lends full backing to the 2006. project Credit for the success is due to no small degree to the Mayor of Fruges, Jean-Jacques Hilmoine. He is at the Even so, the project development was by no means a same time president of the Fruges district association conflict-free process. The contract between the munic- (Communauté de Communes de Fruges). Hilmoine de- ipal authorities in Fruges and Ostwind International fended the project against all resistance and never tired was already signed in 2002. “The local inhabitants wel- in his efforts to point out the benefits of the wind farm comed the project from the very start and have contrib- for the population. “Our region is blessed with constant

It‘s NEW: It‘s WIND. Wind energy

permission for projects in the départements Pas-de- and La Somme.”

Expansion already planned In addition to its office in Fruges, Ostwind International set up an office for the South of France in Toulouse in 2006. The head office in Strasbourg takes care of the northeast of the country and handles the financing for all the group’s activities in France. Besides the Ostwind team, there is also an operations management office in Fruges, where Conergy has five staff to look after the wind farm, and a further ten permanent staff from Ener- con who are responsible for maintenance. For Van Vooren, the Fruges project is the door-opener for all fur- ther business in Northern France: “We are noticing that we are everywhere well known, and that is now making many things easier than before.” The Ostwind regional office: The little community of Fruges, with its 2,000 inhab- From here, Jean-Marie Van winds. And with this project, we can turn our visions in- itants, is in the meantime also an object of considerable Vooren (front left) and his to reality”, he repeats at every possible opportunity. visitor interest: “School groups from Paris have been four staff look after the whole One important objective was to make the region attrac- here, and many local authority representatives, of Northwest of France. tive for young families and to encourage them to move course. There was even a coach from Austria”, Van here (see box text). Vooren recalls. That sometimes means an extra burden The project has already created a number of new of work, but good public relations are naturally very im- jobs. Initially with Ostwind: In the pretty yellow house portant for a project of this scale. Especially when the in which the company has set up its offices, Van Vooren support of the local population remains urgently neces- is assisted by four staff. He is also not only responsible sary. After all, an expansion is already planned. But that for the Fruges wind farm - all the Ostwind projects in first requires the designation of three priority zones the Northwest of France, along the windy Atlantic and (ZDE, see page 175). And so Ostwind is hoping for a Channel coasts, are coordinated from here. Van Vooren wind-energy-friendly decision from the regional pre- lists some of his forthcoming plans: “We are building fecture. Martin Frey five turbines in the département La Manche in Lower Further information: www.ostwind.fr Normandy. And then we are also waiting for building

Economy, social facilities and tourism all benefit

“Without the wind farm, none of these invest- age of four in March this year, and four new ments would have been possible.” Jean- day facilities for schoolchildren are to help at- Jacques Hilmoine is the Mayor of Fruges and tract young families. A new social services president of a district association comprising centre accommodates the Red Cross and a 25 local communities. The project to erect 70 soup kitchen. A medical centre is scheduled wind turbines has given the mayor new finan- to open next year, and from September this cial freedoms. The income from trade tax year there will even be an attended residence alone amounts to € 2 million a year. “We have project for senior citizens with 22 little hous- thus tripled our previous budget.” And es. Hilmoine is spending the extra revenue from To promote tourism in the region, which the wind farm on improvements to the local has to date remained rather underdeveloped infrastructure: in this respect, Hilmoine is planning to set up Mayor Jean-Jacques “We have been able to allocate the third a tourism office and a wind energy informa- Hilmoine section of our business park.” In the meantime, tion trail. A new cultural office organises clas- seven new companies have set up business, sical concerts with nationally known ensem- including an archaeological services provider. bles. And the general infrastructure has been fair distribution of the revenues to all the “And they will increase our tax revenues still improved in many directions. Hilmoine: “We communities involved, and no doubt also the further. That is fantastic for a rural area.” now have new roads and paths, DSL access political will.” The allocation of the income is Hilmoine grants incoming investors municipal and mobile phone services. In the meantime, indeed exemplary: The district association incentives. Furthermore, he has initiated a I think everyone understands where the mon- ­uses a proportion of the trade tax revenue to business founders’ centre to offer young com- ey comes from.” finance joint projects. The rest is shared panies the necessary infrastructure. So what was the factor which enabled the among the individual communities, irrespec- The social sector has also profited: A day- wind farm to be built, despite the hurdles? tive of whether they actually have wind tur- care centre was opened for children up to the “Absolute transparency in public relations, bines within their boundaries or not.

178 Sun & Wind Energy 6/2008 You are the one who counts As one of 25,000 recipients worldwide, you have received Best description of your company/organisation: SUN & WIND ENERGY 6/2008, our international English-lan- ❏ Local or central government guage magazine, which is a popular fo rum for solar and ❏ Manufacturer/Industry wind energy experts from all over the world. SUN & WIND ENERGY is published monthly and arose from SONNE WIND ❏ Research establishment & WÄRME – one of the lead ing magazines on the German- ❏ Retail/Installation speaking market. ❏ Wholesale To ensure that you also receive future interna tional issues ❏ of SUN & WIND ENERGY on time, and to enable us to offer Consultant in renewable energy you up-to-the-minute, in-depth reports on the topics ❏ Architecture/Construction which really interest you, we would be most grateful for ❏ Engineering your taking a few minutes to com plete the ❏ Private Copy following questionnaire and fax or mail it to the address below. You may also answer these ques- ❏ Others (please specify) free of tions on line at www.sunwindenergy.com, Keyword: charge Free Copy Your position in the company: (Information for internal use only, it will not be sold or shared ❏ Proprietor/Managing Director with other companies.) ❏ Department Manager As a token of our gratitude you will receive the next ❏ Assistant SUN & WIND ENERGY (January 2009) free of charge. ❏ Others (Readers who already completed this questionnaire in a previous edition of SUN & WIND ENERGY will not be considered a second time.) Your opinion In future, you would like to read more information on Your address the following topics: ❏ Name: Photovoltaics ❏ Job Title: Solar thermal systems ❏ Department: Wind energy ❏ Company: Biomass/Biogas ❏ Address: Cogeneration plants ❏ Hydropower technology (Country, Zip-Code, City, State, Street): ❏ Geothermal technology ❏ Phone: Others

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Your field of work Sectors of the renewable energy industry you are involved in: ❏ Solar thermal systems ❏ Photovoltaics Our service ❏ Solar architecture You are interested in further possibilities of presenting ❏ Wind energy your company in the SUN & WIND ENERGY journal to selected decision makers in the industry and would ❏ Cogeneration plants like us to send you information on: ❏ Biomass/Biogas ❏ Marketing possibilities ❏ Financing institutions SUN & WIND ENERGY ❏ Others (please specify) is a publication of SONNE WIND & WÄRME BVA Bielefelder Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Ravensberger Str. 10 f, 33602 Bielefeld, phone: +49-521-595548, fax: +49-521-595556 e-mail: [email protected] www.sunwindenergy.com, www.sonnewindwaerme.de Wind energy Sibylle Weiler: Wind energy’s advocate The wind energy market in France calls for good knowledge of the applicable approval procedures and legislation. Multi-­ disciplinary consultants “Sterr-Kölln & Partners” recognised this fact and set up an office in Paris three years ago. It was there that we visited legal advisor Sibylle Weiler.

K & Partners, the Paris office of German consult- ants Sterr-Kölln & Partners is located very cen- trally, barely 400 m from the Arc de Triomphe. Legal advisor Sybille Weiler Photo: Martin Frey Sibylle Weiler kindly took the time to grant us an insight into some of the background legal is- Ssues. After all, the booming wind energy market in visors to renewable energy projects in Germany and France has unearthed a whole series of conflicts which other European countries. now await legal clarification. The clients of SK & Partners The approach favoured by Sterr-Kölln & Partners dif- include project developers and operators, as well as in- fers essentially from the strictly domain-specific con- vestors and major international banks. sulting services usual in France: Interdisciplinary and in- Each group has its own specific interests. “Depend- ternational teams of experts are formed to match par- ing on the client for whom we are active, we pay corre- ticular project circumstances. Specific know-how per- sponding attention to the assessment of project rights taining to business dealings in France has been built up and the contract terms in connection with project as- through the involvement in the wind energy projects in signments and M&A transactions1, not to mention the Fruges over the past five years. demands made by the financing banks”, says Sibylle Weiler, outlining the broad spectrum of her activities. Many pitfalls in connection with wind energy Preferably without going to court There is no shortage of pitfalls – for example mistakes In the case of the wind farm project in Fruges in the in property deeds or the process for obtaining building North of France, SK & Partners successfully represented permission. Sometimes, they are not discovered until project developer Ostwind International in legal action the project is audited in the context of disposal or fi- brought before the Regional Administrative Court in nancing. The competition between developers seeking Lille in opposition to the building permission for the the best locations frequently leads to building applica- project. It was only at the second instance that the ma- tions being submitted before the site has actually been jority of the building permits were reinstated. And only designated a wind energy development zone (ZDE, see then that the way was finally cleared for realisation of page 175). the largest wind farm in France to date. Work has since There is then a risk that turbines end up outside the progressed unhindered on erection of the 70 wind tur- ZDE and thus lose their eligibility for statutory grid-in- bines with a total rated capacity of 140 MW (see page put payments. The developers are subsequently left sit- 176). ting on their planning costs. “But many are prepared to But Sibylle Weiler, a dynamic young lawyer who take this risk”, as Sibylle Weiler is able to report from her probably understands the legal subtleties of the French own experience. wind energy branch better than anyone else, would ac- A two-year transitional period for the old 12 MW lim- tually prefer to avoid such spectacular cases. “Generally, it, the rule which was replaced by the ZDE regulations, we try to avoid taking the arising conflicts before a ended in July 2007. This, too, has brought legal advisors court,” she assures. additional briefs, as some of the government ordinanc- es have still not been amended to reflect the new legis- Benefiting from prior knowledge lation. For example, it is at the moment impossible to obtain the so-called purchase obligation certificate In the meantime, most of the major legal offices in Par- which guarantees the state-pledged grid-input pay- is have added the topic of wind energy to their portfo- ments, because the corresponding conditions for issu- lio. But SK & Partners are able to benefit from know-how ing of the certificate have still not been brought into gathered from over ten years of prior experience as ad- line with those pertaining to the ZDE zones. But at least

180 Sun & Wind Energy 6/2008 wind energy this does not prevent the signing of grid-input con- New clients in solar energy and biogas tracts if all the remaining criteria are met. The ZDE zones themselves continue to deliver ample Sibylle Weiler has now been working at SK & Partners in potential for legal dispute. “The question arises, for ex- Paris for two years. In the meantime, more and more so- ample, to what extent developers are willing to cooper- lar projects from various corners of France are joining ate with each other if they are active in one and the the wind energy files on her desk. “Large-scale photo- same zone”, Sibylle Weiler explains. The wind energy voltaic installations are gaining in importance”, she says. market in France remains exciting – also for lawyers and This means not only open-field projects, but also advisors. Consulting offices like SK & Partners will con- rooftop installations. Weiler: “We have a lot of large tinue to benefit. shopping centres on the edges of towns in France.” Gen- erally, however, solar projects are simpler to manage Working to capacity with renewable than projects in wind energy. energies Alongside the sun and wind, France is gradually dis- covering other renewable energy sources. Against this “Most of our work at present is connected with wind en- background, Laurent Brault, also a lawyer with SK & ergy projects”, says Sibylle Weiler. She and her col- Partners, last year began to assist the planning offices leagues in the Paris office deal exclusively with matters developing the first French biogas projects. Activities involving renewable energies. Sterr-Kölln & Partners, have even been registered in deep geothermal wells, an the headquarters with 35 staff based in Freiburg (Ger- exciting new field in which both the German and French many), has also specialised for the most part on the offices have identified interesting potential. fields of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Sibylle Weiler bubbles with energy and drive when The company has just opened another office in Ber- she talks about all this. She is captivated by the diversi- lin. “Our Berlin branch, like the office in Paris, is seen as ty of legal questions thrown up by renewable energies. another sign of our increasing international activities – And by the constant emergence of new spheres of ac- and that also includes the new markets in Eastern Eu- tivity. “I have done a great deal of work in wind energy rope”, adds Karlheinz Rabenschlag, one of the partners so far. And so I am all the more pleased that the sun will in the company and similarly a lawyer. The future is thus now also be shining over many of my new tasks.” sure to bring further growth. Martin Frey Further information: 1 Mergers & Acquisitions www.sterr-koelln.com

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