At the time of its dedication in 2001, Paderborn-Sintfeld was one of the largest wind projects in Germany. It was also by far the largest Bürger-initiative or citizen-owned wind projects as well.
The project combined 14 different operating companies or limited partnerships into four wind plants. At it’s complete Sintfeld represented a combined capacity of 111 MW of mostly Enercon E66s turbines.
Most of the partnerships deliberately placed their operations offices in Marsberg and Bad Wünenberg to ensure that the projects pay local taxes in the communities where the turbines are located.
The goal of the developers were to a renewable energy project close to the needs of its participants or investors.
The turbines are spread over 765 ha and are expected to generate 190 million kWh per year.
One unusual aspect of the project is that all the turbines are collectively connected at transmission voltage through a 110 kW substation, the largest, privately owned substation in Germany.
- Wind Power on the Sintfeld: Project Description
- Paderborn Community Wind Case Study
- Paderborn Wind Plant: Wikipedia
- Paderborn Wind Plant: Google Earth
