Green light for Unterstinkenbrunn wind farm and end of red flashing light

During today's meeting of the Lower Austrian provincial government, three new wind farms were approved with the votes of the ÖVP, FPÖ, and SPÖ. A total of 22 new wind turbines with a capacity of around 160 megawatts will be built. This will enable around 125,000 households to be supplied with clean electricity from Lower Austria in the future. Among other things, the Unterstinkenbrunn wind farm of Windkraft Simonsfeld, with seven wind turbines and a capacity of over 50 megawatts, was approved in the first instance.

Martin Blochberger, Geschäftsführer von Bloch3, Georg Waldner, CEO von ImWind, EVN Naturkraft Geschäftsführer Helwig Überacker und Markus Winter, Vorstand der Windkraft Simonsfeld, zu Gast bei LH-Stellv. Pernkopf

All new wind farms will be equipped with demand-based night-time lighting from the outset. “The red flashing lights on wind turbines will be discontinued and will soon be a thing of the past; the conversion of the turbines is about to begin,” announced Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf after discussions and negotiations with major green energy companies such as Windkraft Simonsfeld. This will significantly reduce unnecessary light pollution. For new wind farms, demand-based night lighting applies with immediate effect and is already stipulated in the notices. For the existing 850 or so wind turbines, this cannot be legally enforced retrospectively, which makes the voluntary commitment of the operators all the more significant. Pernkopf: "After intensive discussions, it is clear that the companies will retrofit their existing turbines as far as possible. This will bring more peace and quiet to the night and remove a lot of artificial light from our landscape. Around one million people will benefit from this result.“

Markus Winter, CEO of Windkraft Simonsfeld: ”Thanks to political efforts, the year is ending on a very positive note for the future of renewable energy: the wind industry's long-standing demand to switch off the red flashing lights is now being implemented, which is important for acceptance. We are also particularly pleased about the initial approval of our project in Unterstinkenbrunn, which has always enjoyed high levels of support and is now a decisive step further thanks to the commitment of the state government."

Deputy Governor Pernkopf: “These decisions alone will generate around 250 million euros in regional added value. These are orders for local businesses and investments that will directly benefit our regions. At the same time, we are not only making Lower Austria less dependent on energy imports, but also independent of the red flashing light.”