Battery storage rezoning procedure: expert support
Battery storage rezoning: sound expert reports, clear communication and efficient coordination with authorities through to the rezoning decision.
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. Based on the requirements of the authorities, we prepare your submission documents comprehensively so that battery storage can be realised efficiently and sustainably.
In the rezoning procedure for battery storage, zoning is usually the first step, because it generally has to be in place before the plant procedure begins. If it is missing, refusal is likely. Spatial planning is provincial law, so the requirements differ by federal province. In Upper Austria, stand-alone storage requires zoning; in practice, building land is usually provided for, for example as a commercial, industrial or special area, and a special designation in grassland is viewed critically from a technical standpoint. Storage as an ancillary facility to a photovoltaic or wind plant, on the other hand, can under certain conditions be permissible on that plant's special designation in grassland: storage for short-term surpluses generally without further steps, larger storage with a supplement to the zoning. Whether ancillary facilities in an acceleration area are zoning-neutral must be examined under the applicable requirements of provincial law. In terms of timing, zoning therefore often sets the pace of the project: as a rule, zoning must be in place before the plant procedure under electricity or trade law begins; building law follows afterwards, where applicable.
The rezoning procedure itself is public. In Upper Austria, the draft is coordinated with authorities and interest groups, it is then generally available for inspection for four weeks, affected landowners are notified, and the municipal council decides taking the statements into account. The host municipality is responsible, the provincial government approves the zoning act, and there is no legal entitlement to a particular zoning. Those affected have no party status in the provincial government's supervisory procedure, but they can submit suggestions and objections in the municipality's procedure. If the site is in or near a European protected area, the assessments under Article 6(3) and, where applicable, Article 6(4) of the Habitats Directive apply; besides imperative reasons, an exception requires in particular the absence of reasonable alternatives and suitable compensation measures, and depending on the project an environmental assessment of the plan may be required. Whether zoning can be dispensed with for small structures or ancillary facilities depends on the statutory exceptions and the circumstances of the project. Anyone preparing a rezoning procedure for a battery storage system and comparing several sites is best advised to set out the zoning requirements of each site side by side early on. You receive technically sound and robust expert reports, and we speak with citizens, municipalities and landowners as equals.
The procedure is prepared by the technical contributions on rezoning for storage. Afterwards, support for the permit procedures for battery storage helps with the permit. Which technology is planned at the site is described by the advice and planning on plant equipment. For PV projects, there is support for the rezoning procedure for agri-PV and ground-mounted PV.
