The pioneers of the energy transition from Ried

It is rare that local politicians are so enthusiastic about a project.

The talk is of a "visionary project that is forward-looking", as the Indersdorf municipal council see it.

The farmer and entrepreneur Josef Götz is planning an energy park in Ried.

Here, according to the vision, hydrogen is to be produced from renewable energies - for the energy transition on site.

Ried - Josef Götz, 50, tanned from working in the fields, loves this place. He looks out over a field. He has a vision for this place: If he has his way, an open space photovoltaic system will be built here on 7.7 hectares and: Hydrogen will be generated - the Ried Energy Park, a concept that is unique in Bavaria. Behind Götz's back is his biogas plant; if he turns to the right, he sees the Dachau wind turbines on the horizon. He grins. He does not see black for the future, he sees "many green opportunities". For him, “this is the perfect place for the energy transition on site”.

There has never been so much talk about nature conservation and the energy transition as in the past two years. Josef Götz has been in the biogas business for two decades, he knows: “We have to get away from nuclear power plants and fossil fuels.” At the same time, people's demands are increasing, and energy requirements are increasing exponentially. That is why he and his son Maxi (25) developed a visionary project - people should be able to use energy without a guilty conscience.

Maxi Götz is just as passionate about renewable energies as his father. His master's thesis was about exactly this: Hydrogen generation via a PV system - and, perfect for the Götz company: How to connect this hydrogen with biogas systems. “The interesting thing is that, for example, you can use it to produce sustainable methane,” explains Maxi Götz. He knows that the question of the future is: How can renewable energies be made storable in the long term? "And this is where our hydrogen comes into play - it could be the renewable form of storage," he says and laughs. The grin when it comes to sustainable energy runs in the family.

The planned energy park is to be built on a field behind the family's biogas plant. The special thing about this project: While there used to be resistance - also in the community of Indersdorf - against planned open-space photovoltaic systems, Josef Götz's neighbors are enthusiastic about the idea. So enthusiastic that they not only leased him arable land for it - the Wackerl and Zotz families, together with the Götz family, founded the Energiepark Ried company.

Götz doesn't just want to feed the energy generated from the PV system into the power grid, that would not be very innovative. The energy is to be used for different processes. The most extraordinary - to be precise: Götz wants to generate hydrogen on site in a plant that is just as big as two shipping containers - and to do so, "completely green", as he says. There it is again, the grin when he knows: his ideas, for which some people smile at him, will take the local energy transition a lot further.

The community of Indersdorf knows that too. Götz has been known in the authority for years as an innovative and reliable partner when it comes to the supply of renewable energy; 20 years ago, when hardly anyone was talking about biogas plants and the energy transition was still a long way off, he built the largest biogas plant in the Dachau district and has already designed a district heating network for the community. Today, 70 objects in the commercial and new building area at the train station as well as the Indersdorfer elementary and middle school are supplied with it. It also generates green electricity for over 3,000 households. With the new energy park, another 2000 should come on top.

Now, 20 years after the beginning, Götz is at a similar point again.

Again he has a vision "which others may not be able to see yet, but which we are already thinking big".

But Götz is no longer smiled at in Indersdorf for his ideas.

His new project inspires both local councils and administration (see info box).

That is exactly what the Götz 'want with their project: enabling the energy transition on site.

Starting shot for the planning of the energy park

The planned energy park was the topic of the most recent meeting of the Indersdorf municipal council.

For its implementation, the outside area would first have to be re-planned: a special area must be designated and the zoning plan must be changed.

All municipal councils approved the plans for this.

The administration emphasized the great importance of the project for the community: “The over-planning is of great interest for the market. On the one hand, because here energy is generated directly for the market by a local company and the added value actually takes place in the community area. ”In addition, the company is already“ making an important contribution to supplying Markt Indersdorf with regenerative energy ”.

With the planned expansion to include the open-space PV system and the planned generation of hydrogen, the location can also be secured for the future. This means that there is the prospect that the existing district heating network could be further expanded, says building authority manager Erich Weisser. He emphasized: “All of this is also necessary in order to further reduce the consumption of fossil fuels in the community and thus make an important contribution to the long-term protection of the environment and nature. Ideally, an entrepreneur has found himself here who has taken on this task. "

Mayor Franz Obesser is also enthusiastic: “That is groundbreaking.

A great thing that is forward-looking, I am impressed. "He emphasized:" Are we glad that we have such resourceful citizens here, that they are so forward-looking when it comes to environmental protection! "

Helmut Ebert (FW) praised Josef and Maxi Götz's thirst for action: “I am glad that we have such a company here that things can continue in the energy transition - if nothing comes from the government.” Cb