The financial difficulties at Green City AG had been known for weeks, and the bomb burst on Monday: The company has filed for bankruptcy, so it is completely unclear how the wind farm in Ebersberg Forest, which Green City wanted to realize, will continue. The project had been disputed for years, and in May 2021 a majority in a referendum finally decided that it should be pursued. Actually, it should now go to the concrete preliminary investigations and planning. Does the bad news from Munich mean the end for the entire project? At least District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß (CSU) does not assume that. There are already other interested parties who may want to implement the project instead of Green City. However, a change will probably mean “a certain shift on the time axis”.
The wind farm in the forest should be one of the major projects for the energy transition in the district. The project has been pursued since 2011 – always together with Green City. The company saw the six wind turbines planned at the time as a flagship project, one of the largest wind farms in Bavaria. But there were always setbacks: resistance from residents, arguments about the met mast, a conflict with air traffic control. The project seemed to have failed more than once, but in the end the hurdles could be overcome.
Also probably the biggest, namely the vote on the project as part of a district-wide referendum, which the district council itself had initiated. “Are you in favor of the district of Ebersberg exhausting the legal options available to it in order to achieve the goals of climate protection and to promote landscape conservation, in order to work towards a maximum of five wind turbines being erected in the Ebersberg forest?” That was the question to the district citizens. Supporters and opponents of the project argued bitterly in the months leading up to the vote. Ultimately, the proponents prevailed, 52.74 percent of the participants in the referendum spoke out in favor of the five wind turbines in the forest with a cross.
Now an insolvency administrator has to get an idea of the situation
Of course, this would still not have meant that the wind farm would definitely be built, the necessary environmental assessments would all have to take place first. The district has even increased the number of staff responsible for the lower nature conservation authority for the extensive preparatory work.
Are all plans now waste? Is the insolvency of Green City the end for the wind farm as a whole? Green City itself said it was necessary to wait and see which insolvency administrator would be appointed and how he intends to proceed. The state forests, with whom the company concluded the site security contract for the wind turbines, were also at a loss. “You have to see what that really means,” says Heinz Utschig, head of the Wasserburg forestry company of the Bavarian State Forests, which is responsible for the Ebersberg forest. Should Green City be wound up, another company could theoretically take over the project and enter into negotiations with the district office and the state forests, but at the moment it’s not the case that ten potential applicants are queuing, says Utschig. But also in general “the situation has never been more unclear than it is right now”, because there are currently many discussions about the framework conditions for wind power in Bavaria and about a possible departure from the 10-H regulation – possibly with consequences for wind turbines in the forest .
District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß said that the development at Green City had become apparent and that it did not come as a surprise. Since the previous investor became aware of the financial difficulties, other companies had also contacted the district with expressions of interest. He therefore assumes that the project is not fundamentally at risk if Green City fails, says Niedergesäß, but that it may have to be implemented with another partner. Agreements similar to those made with Green City could be made with them, regarding the assumption of costs for planning and other preparatory work.