Höhlerberg Wind Farm: Construction Site Preparation Kicks Off
The Höhlerberg wind farm in the German region of Middle Hesse is a joint project between Koehler Renewable Energy and Qair Deutschland. Construction site preparation is moving ahead just as planned for the project, with initial preparations for site clearing having started at the end of October at the planned installation locations in priority area VRG 4117 between the town of Lich and the Fernwald municipality. These preparations started with the specific construction locations being surveyed and staked out, after which wildlife exclusion fencing that demarcates the clearance areas and prevents unauthorized access was installed. Now, the actual site clearing work will start in December, and is expected to last all the way through the end of February 2026. Both the preparation work and the site clearing are being supervised by experienced expert consultancies within the context of environmental and geotechnical supervision. Once the clearing work is done, construction work for the access road should start in the spring of 2026. Finally, this will be followed by subsequent construction stages until the two wind turbines are finally erected so that they can go online around April/May 2027.
“Once we got the necessary air quality permit from the Gießen regional board in March 2023, things kicked off officially – it sounds easy, but it’s something that we’d worked towards for a good five years,” remembers Nicolas Christoph, the Corporate Director of Wind Power, Solar, Hydro & Business Development at Koehler Renewable Energy. “The fact that we’re now starting construction is a huge milestone, but as I alluded to already, we shouldn’t forget that it took an extremely time-consuming multi-year process that was characterized by detailed planning, countless adjustments and consultations, and quite a lot of expert reports. However, that means that it’s all the sweeter for us to see the actual physical work starting and the project visibly taking shape at last.” Qair Deutschland Managing Director Simon Ruckinski adds: “Getting the required permits was the result of extraordinary teamwork. Working closely together with the responsible agencies and getting support from the municipalities of Fernwald and Pohlheim and the town of Lich were absolutely vital. Obviously, we’d like to thank them for trusting us and for all the constructive discussions we had throughout the entire planning process – this wouldn’t have been possible without them and we’re now eagerly looking forward to the construction stage of this project.”
Important contribution to regional energy transition
The Höhlerberg wind farm is an important building block for the energy transition in the region. Its two wind turbines will generate 11.4 MW of power and around 28,000 MWh of green electricity a year in the future – enough to cover the average power consumption of around 7,000 four-person households in Germany. At the same time, the site will continue to be strategically developed: Since only around a third of the priority area is currently in use, application documents for up to four additional wind turbines and a total rated capacity of 27 MW were submitted for the Helgenwald wind farm project in June 2025. This means that the area is gradually growing into a key hub of renewable energy for the region, all while being accompanied by extensive nature and species conservation measures.
