Tyrol solar farm plan faces opposition over farmland use

A planned 15-hectare solar farm on land reserved for agriculture in Mils near Hall has drawn opposition from the mayor and local farmers, despite the developer’s pledge to keep the land in agricultural use. ORF reported that a hearing under the Tyrolean Electricity Act is due in November.

Project promoter Matthias Legner plans to install three-metre-high vertical panels, with nine metres between rows for growing vegetables. The field is currently leased to vegetable growers. Legner says farming in its current form would remain the priority, with electricity generation added as a second use.

The project could supply electricity to about 1,900 households, Legner estimates. Businesses located behind the field have expressed interest in buying power, which he says would mainly be generated in the morning and evening to support grid stability. A nature conservation review is still under way.

Mils Mayor Daniela Kampfl opposes the project, warning it could encourage similar proposals across the Inn Valley, the district and Tyrol. Local farmers’ representative Walter Mair says the installation would take up valuable arable land and harm the village’s appearance. He argues that a solar project on a glacier, such as in Sölden, would be different because it would not affect farmland or the local landscape. He says there is “absolutely no place” for the planned installation in Mils.

Tyrol’s deputy governor responsible for spatial planning and energy, Josef Geisler, said the state had to use its limited land carefully. The general policy is to prioritise rooftops and already sealed surfaces for solar panels before considering suitable open land. Legner says he has commissioned several assessments, including a glare study, which found the panels would not cause glare. The project would be the first of its kind in Tyrol.