Part of the proceeds from the wind farm, around 28,000 euros per year, is intended as financial compensation for local residents, via the Area Fund. “If you look at another windmill location in the region, such as Pottendijk, you can see that the 28,000 euros is already completely necessary to give the fourteen nearest households compensation,” explains Van Tilburg. “So it seems a lot of money, but it’s actually up.”
The municipality and province will also contribute to the area fund. How much that will be is still unclear.
In addition to financial worries, there is another important question that occupies local residents: is sixteen years really sixteen years old? Pure Energie receives a permit for sixteen years, after which the mills have to leave. But local residents fear that the developer will simply apply for a new permit.
Hilko Oosterhuis, project manager at the municipality of Emmen, confirmed that this risk exists. “We strive for temporality,” he says. But according to the municipality, it cannot be excluded that Pure Energie will apply for a new permit in sixteen years.