PV rezoning procedure for Agri-PV and ground-mounted PV: support
PV rezoning procedure: sound expert reports, clear communication and efficient coordination with authorities for agri-PV and ground-mounted plants.
We support you from the first idea to the legally binding rezoning decision. Already in the early planning phase, we take over the technical and scheduling coordination with authorities, official experts and host municipalities, transparently and in a solution-oriented way. We talk openly and as equals with citizens, municipalities and landowners, because local acceptance often has a say in the zoning procedure.
In the rezoning procedure, the site of a ground-mounted PV plant is first settled under spatial planning law. In Upper Austria, the host municipality conducts the zoning procedure, and the provincial government approves the land-use plan as the supervisory authority. There is no legal entitlement to a particular zoning; if suitable zoning is missing, the permit is regularly refused. The zoning categories and special designations for ground-mounted PV plants differ between federal provinces, and Lower Austria and Burgenland, for example, also work with suitability zones. Because provincial law differs greatly between federal provinces, for example in thresholds, zones and procedures, an early look at the respective requirements is worthwhile. Whether overlapping zonings, for example for fields or car parks with modules, are permissible depends on the spatial planning law of the respective federal province. In some places, guidelines for municipalities make the assessment easier.
In the rezoning procedure, municipalities typically assess sites by soil, townscape and landscape, nature conservation, protected areas, traffic and grid connection. High-quality soils should be spared where possible, and previously impacted land such as landfills or contaminated sites is preferred; whether hazard zones, raw-material suitability zones or settlement expansion areas are excluded as sites must be examined on the basis of the respective provincial law and local planning. Exposed locations, recreational areas and the viewsheds of town centres worth preserving are considered sensitive. In Lower Austria, nature reserves, national parks and protection zone 1 of water supply facilities, for example, are excluded as sites. In Upper Austria, plants may not be built on forest land, and a distance to forest must be kept. Lower Austria distinguishes zoning types, including zones of a sectoral spatial planning programme, landfills and contaminated sites, a business's own supply, and other impacted and unimpacted land; the permissible size is limited for each type. As a guide to land requirements, 10 to 15 m² of gross area per kWp applies, so one megawatt-peak needs about 1 to 1.5 hectares. Depending on the type of zoning, a strategic environmental assessment may be required. A binding commitment from the grid operator is usually not yet required at the time of zoning, but a rough assessment of the connection possibility makes sense.
A schedule coordinated early helps to build municipal decisions and the province's supervisory approval into the project planning. Based on the requirements of the authorities, we prepare your submission documents comprehensively. In this way, agri-PV and ground-mounted plants can be realised efficiently and sustainably. The technical foundation is provided by the technical contributions to the rezoning procedure on climate relevance, landscape and nature conservation. This is followed by support for the permit procedure for PV parks. For wind farms, we offer the rezoning procedure with SEA, and for agri-PV additionally the EWS Sonnenfeld®. Anyone planning in Germany will find the counterpart in urban land-use planning for solar parks.
