Central combined heat and power plant near the property, noise?

Good evening everyone,

we have been offered a plot for a semi-detached house by the municipality in a new development area and have reserved our "desired plot." Since we have been on the waiting list for quite some time, we were among the first to choose. The new development area is to be supplied with district heating from a combined heat and power plant. It turned out that, due to the soil survey, a previously planned location for the combined heat and power plant was not suitable. And this plant was built without announcement (since it is under 1MW and not subject to approval) a row of houses about 80 meters from "our" plot. In the meantime, of course, the good plots are reserved, and we actually do not want another one. However, I am already worried whether we will have noise pollution from this plant (which, although housed in a small solid building, is still under construction). The plant is operated by the municipal utilities, and according to their statement, it should not violate any emission limit values, but they do not have the exact figures... Does anyone perhaps have experience with such plants nearby? Thank you!

Does anyone perhaps have experience with such systems nearby? Thanks!

I know such systems from the "Traumhäuser". You stand next to them and hear nothing. They are often built as end buildings in a row of houses. The birds chirping in front of the house make real noise in comparison. But that is only with the "Traumhäuser", I don't know what is being built at your place.

That is difficult to answer because essential information is missing (development/location plan, for example) or subjective (noise sensitivity). But here is an attempt to outline the issue. I assume it is a purely residential area, where a limit of 35 dB(A) applies at night at the immission location (e.g., residential building). This applies equally to every residential building. If someone is closer than you, you can initially assume that the limit of 35 dB(A) is being complied with there. Generally, a reduction of the sound level by 6 dB applies for every doubling of distance (in air). However, interference effects may also occur (e.g., an adjacent residential building reflects the sound back or some neighbor has an air conditioner running outside). It is best if you ask SW whether they already operate a similar combined heat and power plant and visit the site. For noise-sensitive people who are driven crazy at night by even the chirping of a cricket, their own noise protection measures are also recommended (e.g., windows). Personally, I would not worry too much about it, but I am insensitive to it.

Good evening everyone,

we have been offered a plot of land for a semi-detached house by the municipality in a new development area and have reserved our "desired plot." Since we have been on the waiting list for quite some time, we were among the first to choose. The new development area is supposed to be supplied with district heating from a combined heat and power plant. It turned out that, due to the soil survey, a previously planned site for the combined heat and power plant was not suitable. And without announcement (since it is not subject to approval under 1MW), a row of houses was built about 80 m from "our" plot. Meanwhile, of course, the good plots are reserved, and basically, we don’t want another one. However, I am already worried whether we will have noise pollution from this plant (which is housed in a small solid structure, still under construction). The plant is operated by the municipal utilities and, according to them, it should not violate any emission limit values, but they do not have exact figures... Does anyone perhaps have experience with such plants nearby? Thanks!

Basically, the statement that it is not subject to approval is not correct. For an operator, the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) plays the biggest role; according to this, a combined heat and power plant under 1 MW is generally not subject to approval. However, since a combined heat and power plant is designed to produce 75+-percent of the heat (for subsidies) and the rest is usually generated by a natural gas boiler (sometimes also pellet or nowadays renewable), such an installation could under certain circumstances fall under the BImSchG. But I would trust the municipal utilities that they have coordinated this with the responsible authorities.
A heating system or a heating plant is subject to approval according to building regulations but must always comply with other regulations such as the TA Luft and the TA Lärm. This concerns, on the one hand, air pollution control (CO2 emissions, etc., as well as chimney height), and in TA Lärm, it is clearly defined which noise emissions are permissible.
Since it is probably a purely residential area, the limit value, as already mentioned, is very low. 35 dB(A) is quieter than most daily noises that you do not perceive as disturbing. Furthermore, 80 meters is a very decent distance from the plant. Basically, nowadays, a combined heat and power plant is always noise-encapsulated in its own package. Noise sources also include the exhaust path or transmission to the building structure. Basically, the noise issue in residential areas is so critical in the industry that operators and installers of new plants cannot afford to exceed the limit values here.
As far as I understand you, the plant is already standing? Are parts of the area already built so that the plant is already in operation or possibly conducting test runs (commissioning)? I assume that the plant operator will carry out a noise acceptance measurement on their own, just to be sure. They are obliged to comply with the limit values, and retrofitting after complaints from residents and the finding through measurements that the limit values are not met is costly for the operator and probably cannot be passed on to the plant installer (usually general contractors or the combined heat and power plant manufacturers themselves).
However, it must also be said very clearly that people have different noise sensitivities. What one person does not notice under the limit values, another perceives as annoying. In this case, you naturally have no recourse against the operator. If it is a larger municipal utility, it will also have several plants and usually list them on the homepage (possibly only the heating networks with corresponding data; in this case, it is usually not difficult to find the heating plant even without knowing the exact location). Maybe you can simply estimate a similarly sized network here and experience it live. It should not be worse than older plants. Otherwise, check municipal utilities or district heating network operators nearby or google the market master data register. Here, all combined heat and power plants should be registered (still under development and with transitional deadlines; unfortunately, this is not yet the case). Maybe you find a plant near you where you can get a subjective impression.

Which energy source does the combined heat and power plant use?

From an acoustic perspective, only the blower cooling system of the combined heat and power plant is actually interesting, which runs at full speed in summer (on hot days) (or can run). If you visit an identical combined heat and power plant, it only really makes sense on hot days, now in autumn/winter it releases its heat via district heating consumers and the cooling will be more or less completely inactive. PS. I believe the cooling is allowed to exceed 35db as long as it is only short-term and xx% of the operating time. It's kind of like the emissions measurement in cars: in winter there is a cold start device and it is officially allowed to emit whatever it wants.

Hello everyone, thank you very much! The system is already installed in a small solid building, Motor TCG V8 414 kW (the craftsmen were kind enough to let us in), but it is not yet in operation as some things are not finished. There are also no houses in the new development area yet. Unfortunately, this is a mixed zone, probably due to a garden business and a Regio-Tram line a bit further away (interval 30 minutes during the day, less frequent at night). Our idea was also simply to visit similar systems. But many factors play a role here: power, insulation, sound reflection ... I will make a sketch right away...