Project: construction of a windpark with three installations (rated power 600 kW each)
Funding recipient: Green Lines s.r.o.

In the framework of the German-Czech environmental pilot project "Windpark Loučná/Wiesenthal" the company Green Lines s.r.o. has erected a windpark with three turbines (rated power 600 kW each) near the Czech community/municipality Loučná in the Erz mountains (around 2 km from the Czech-German border). Based on the site-related wind survey opinion of the Academy of Science in Prague and on data from the German windpark Jöhstadt, just 5 km away, the investor reckons on an annual energy yield of over 4,000 MWh. Although the wind conditions would also make the location suitable for larger installations, for infrastructure reasons Green Lines s.r.o. opted to restrict the rated power to a total of 1,800 kW. Incorporating a higher capacity into the local grid would have entailed unreasonably high costs, as the windpark was erected at an end point of the electricity network which can not take on any higher capacity. The costs for strengthening the grid would have made the project as a whole unprofitable. In the course of their working life these wind turbines will nevertheless avoid around 50,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The investor has concluded a preliminary agreement on feeding electricity from the planned wind park into the grid with the Nordböhmischen Energiewerken AG. The feed-in payments were laid down at 3 CZK/kWh (0.094 €/kWh) for the first year. The rate of feed-in payments for the following years has yet to be negotiated. An act on renewable energies is expected to enter into force in the Czech Republic shortly. The house bank HBV CZ (part of the Hypo Vereinsbank Group) calculated that the feed-in payments for the windpark in Loučná must be at least 2.5 CZK/kWh in order for the project to be economically viable.

The erection of the windpark was successfully completed in September 2004. The investment volume amounts to around 2.7 milion euros (of which: 0.2 million euros of the investors own funds, 0.8 million euros BMU grant, 1.7 million euros house bank loan).

To date there has been no long-term regulation in the Czech Republic on feed-in payments for electricity generated from wind energy, and wind energy utilisation is consequently still in its infancy. The joint German-Czech environmental pilot project "Windpark Loučná/Wiesenthal" should therefore play a role in promoting renewable energies in the Czech Republic and contribute to practical and future-oriented climate protection.