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The energy transition needs acceptance, regional anchoring and concrete opportunities for participation. That is why the MLK Group is focusing specifically on financial citizen participation in its wind energy projects. The company thus not only meets the legal requirements in North Rhine-Westphalia, but also pursues a clear goal: Citizens should benefit from the energy transition locally – especially where plants are built, but also beyond.
Operators of wind energy projects in North Rhine-Westphalia now have to create opportunities for municipalities and citizens to participate financially. For the MLK Group, however, citizen participation is not only a formal obligation, but an expression of its self-image as a regionally anchored company. MLK has therefore already created participation opportunities in the past, for example through discounted local electricity.
"It is important to us not only to develop projects, but also to have a permanent local presence and to involve the people in the regions," explains Heinrich Lohmann, Managing Director of the MLK Group. "Anyone who experiences the energy transition in their neighbourhood should also have the opportunity to participate in it economically. Citizen participation creates acceptance, strengthens regional value creation and makes the benefits of the energy transition tangible."
Currently, the MLK Group relies on subordinated loans for its investment offers. This model enables private investors to participate in renewable energy projects with comparatively low initial sums and to receive a fixed interest rate for doing so.
At the same time, the company is open about the conditions of this form of investment: A subordinated loan is an entrepreneurial investment. This also means that in the event of an economic failure of the project behind it, investors bear the risk of losing their invested capital completely.
The focus of the offers is initially on the people in the respective project regions. At the same time, the MLK Group does not want to limit its participation to individual municipalities. Citizens outside the immediate siting regions and from all over Germany can also participate in selected projects via a digital participation platform.
The MLK Group is currently showing what this approach looks like in concrete terms with two projects in the Rhineland:
