On Friday, 19.12.2009, the Vejprty building authority in the Comutov region of the Czech Republic awarded the official, legally binding operating licence for the 42 megawatt wind farm in Kryštofovy Hamry to the operator ecoenerg Windkraft GmbH & Co. KG.
This marked the successful conclusion of the one-year trial operation of the wind farm. Licensing is a two-stage process in the Czech Republic, unlike the German process in which the licence allows construction and operation of the wind farm in compliance with the Federal Pollution Control Act (BImSchG). When planning permission is granted, this approves the construction of the wind farm; the operating licence for permanent operation is not awarded until a trial operating period of one year has been successfully completed.
The wind farm, with its 21 Enercon E82 turbines, each with 2 megawatt nominal output and 78m hub height, is situated on the Erzgebirge Ridge at a height of about 850m; it feeds the energy it produces via an indoor substation into the network of the regional energy supply company, CEZ Distribuce. What is so far the largest wind farm in the Czech Republic has been developed and implemented by the Saxon company eab as part of a German-Czech collaboration. The system is managed by HELIOTEC Betriebs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH in Freiberg.