Specialist contributions to rezoning for agri-PV and ground-mounted PV plants
Rezoning for photovoltaics in Austria: specialist contributions on climate relevance, landscape and nature conservation for agri-PV and ground-mounted projects.
With the growing need for renewable energy, demand for suitable land for photovoltaic plants is rising. Before a PV plant can be built, a rezoning procedure (Umwidmung) is often required. This is exactly what we prepare the specialist contributions for: on climate relevance, landscape and nature conservation. They form a reliable basis so that agri-PV and ground-mounted plants can be realised efficiently and sustainably.
The rules are provincial law and differ depending on the federal state. In Lower Austria, a ground-mounted plant needs zoning as a grassland photovoltaic area by the municipality. In addition, there is a sectoral spatial planning programme with suitability zones; outside these zones, plant size is limited to two hectares according to the guideline. In Upper Austria, a special grassland zoning is required for plants with more than 50 m² of module area in grassland; the exception is agricultural own use. There, a catalogue of criteria applies in the zoning procedure on agricultural and forestry land; whether and when acceleration areas are designated depends on the current legal position and provincial planning. The procedure also differs: for land in the suitability zones of the spatial planning programme, the guideline generally provides in Lower Austria for the accelerated procedure without a strategic environmental assessment, while for zonings outside them it is examined case by case whether a strategic environmental assessment is necessary. Project enquiries are checked in advance against the objectives of the local development concept. A grid access commitment from the grid operator is not yet required for zoning. Whether traffic areas can be used for photovoltaics depends on the area category and provincial law; former transport facilities count as previously impacted areas in the Lower Austrian guideline.
In terms of content, the municipality examines whether the site is suitable. High-quality soils are avoided, nature reserves and national parks are excluded, and landscape protection areas are only conditionally suitable. For local and landscape appearance, areas with low spatial impact and existing technical impact are considered favourable, while sight lines of village centres and monuments worth preserving are considered critical. Species protection is often only examined in the specific plant procedure, as is a glare assessment. From a certain size, the grid operator asks for a preliminary connection concept early on. Lower Austria also distinguishes area types, from zones of the spatial planning programme and previously impacted areas such as contaminated sites, landfills or material extraction to other unaffected open land. This determines the scope of investigation and whether a strategic environmental assessment is necessary. According to the Lower Austrian guideline for ground-mounted PV, the best 50 per cent of a municipality's agricultural soils should not be considered when selecting a site; red hazard zones and frequently flooded areas are among those excluded. On other unaffected open land outside the zones, the size of plants is limited to 2 hectares according to the guideline; within the zones, larger areas are possible with an ecology concept.
We support you from collecting the data basis to specialist support in the rezoning process. Our experts cover all necessary disciplines and communicate on an equal footing with all project participants. The specialist reports are technically sound and robust. In the next step, we take over the specialist support for the rezoning procedure including application documents. The ecological basis is provided by the nature conservation specialist contribution. An example of turnkey agri-PV is the EWS Sonnenfeld®. For battery storage there are the specialist contributions to rezoning for storage and grid.
