Spatial energy planning should steer the expansion of PV systems, not prevent them

Before open spaces for the construction of photovoltaic systems are released in the Urfahr-West (u.we) region, the communities want to carry out comprehensive energy planning. The mayors name the Freistadt energy district as a model region. “It’s about planning first in order to then make comprehensible decisions,” says the managing director of the Urfahr-West region Sigrid Gillmayr when asked by OÖN. For the time being, there is a basic decision by the mayor. Only two of the nine municipalities have passed resolutions in the municipal councils.

criticism from the Greens

However, there is already criticism from the Greens in the district of “stopping the dedication for PV open spaces”: “With the openness to technology so often demanded by the ÖVP to avert the climate catastrophe, it is probably not far away,” writes Greens district spokesman Rainer Lenzenweger. He fears that, taking into account the time required for the creation of an energy concept and subsequent approval procedures at municipal and state level and by the grid operators, no open-space PV systems will be built in Urfahr-West in the next four years. “Although the rapid expansion of renewable energy plays a key role in climate protection, the mayors are letting time pass unnecessarily,” he criticizes.

Set up solid planning

The decision to set up joint spatial energy planning is by no means about preventing something. You want planning security for all sides. In addition, photovoltaic systems on open spaces are not without controversy. “We know that PV systems will also be necessary in open spaces. That’s why it’s important to steer everything in an orderly manner,” says Gilmayr. You don’t want to start building wildly.

Enough steering options

“We’re still a long way from an overshooting open-space PV boom in the Urfahr area,” says Lenzenweger. With the land use plan, the local development concept, their committees, the municipal council, the Spatial Planning Act, the Nature and Landscape Protection Act and supported by the state’s spatial planning, the communities currently have enough opportunities to control development. Lenzenweger continues: “The insufficient capacity of the power grid is another factor preventing an excessive expansion of ground-mounted PV in the coming years.” In any case, the Greens only support the expansion of photovoltaics in open spaces if the criteria of the state’s PV strategy are met.