Is manna blowing from the sky?
The wind money, the so-called village money, is an important resource for the development of Sollerö parish.
It enables projects and investments at the parish associations. The money is to be used for projects and investments. Not for ongoing operation and maintenance.
Where does the wind money come from? Solleröbladet asked Mats Wik, who was involved from the beginning.
“Since wind power came into being, there has always been interest from power companies in building wind turbines in the hilly Swedish forests,” says Mats. “In 2005, Gemensamhetsskogen was contacted by Vindkompaniet Öland about a suitable location for a wind turbine in Solleröskogen. At first, Rostberg was interesting, but then attention was turned to Skuruberg and Seliträ. A measuring mast of about 50 meters was erected to measure how favorable the winds were for 1 year. Since the establishment of wind power was sensitive, consideration was also given to interventions in nature such as obscuring views, wildlife or disturbing movements and noise.
The fact is that we are consuming more and more electricity in Sweden. Northern Sweden has a surplus, but in central and southern Sweden there is often a shortage of electricity.
After a 4-year process, a lease agreement was signed between the then Vindkompaniet and the landowners, who were Bergvik, Gemensamhetsskogen, the Church and private individuals. At the initiative of Vindbolaget, an agreement was also signed regarding an extra community grant from the wind turbines. The company wanted the electricity production to benefit the entire parish. The Parish Association and the Local History Association were appointed as Vindbolaget's contracting party and are responsible for the distribution of the community grant, which is estimated at 0.5% of the gross production value. The wind turbines started up in 2009 and today the 8 wind turbines are owned by the German energy company EnBW. Since the start, it has given the parish just over SEK 1.56 million, which has been distributed to 35 associations for 87 projects. Last year, approximately SEK 82,000 was received.
read more about windfall here you can see what amounts associations and projects have received. There you can also see how to apply for community grants. The Vindgruppen currently consists of: Jack Gottling, Staffan Bond, Karin Wik-Land and Börje Svensson.
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