That's how far the Oberland is on the way to the energy transition

Created: 05/01/2022, 08:00 p.m

By: Volker Ufertinger

The power of the sun: Renewable energies - here a ground-mounted photovoltaic system - are indispensable for getting away from oil and gas.

This insight is spreading more and more.

© German Values ​​Holding AG

The energy turnaround is on everyone's lips - also because of the Ukraine war.

Stefan Drexlmeier from the community foundation "Energiewende Oberland" on the current situation.

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen

– For many years, the energy transition – i.e. district-wide independence from fossil fuels by 2035 – made slow progress.

The picture has changed completely in recent times, and the topic of energy is on everyone's lips.

Editor Volker Ufertinger spoke to Stefan Drexlmeier, CEO of Energiewende Oberland, about this and about the Ukraine war as a possible cause for the change in attitude.

Mr. Drexlmeier, hardly a day goes by without headlines about solar parks, village heating systems and other things.

Is the impression deceptive or is the topic of energy transition just gaining momentum?

Drexlmeier:

Yes, there is indeed a lot going on.

Although one honestly has to admit that energy transition projects such as village heating often have a long lead time and we have been registering an increase in inquiries since 2020.

The current crises are certainly also contributing to the fact that many are dealing with the topic of energy transition privately or professionally.

Stefan Drexlmeier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Energiewende Oberland” community foundation.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

Has the war in Ukraine significantly sensitized people to the issue?

Drexlmeier:

Even before the corona pandemic, the funding was more attractive than ever before, for example to replace your own heating system.

Due to curfews and working from home, many have been busy with their own four walls.

Due to the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and fears about the supply, many people seeking advice call us and explain that they want to become independent and are therefore interested in a solar system or heating system based on renewable energies.

How high is the need for advice in your office in Penzberg at the moment?

Are you still following?

Drexlmeier:

We are doing our best to provide the desired information over the phone or on our website.

Unfortunately, personal advice is currently hardly possible.

If personal advice is still necessary, there are webinars that you can register for.

The dates can be found on our website.

Do the inquiries come from all four districts that belong to the Oberland energy transition?

And what do people want to know from you first and foremost?

Drexlmeier:

We are now known in the region as a neutral advice center and receive inquiries from all four districts.

Two topics are currently at the top: heating exchange and solar energy.

We have compiled the most important questions at wärmewende-oberland.de and partly explained them with videos.

In the so-called heating calculator, for example, you can enter the current heating energy consumption and provide information about the building.

At the end you get a rough calculation of the estimated costs for a heating system that works with renewable energy sources.

When it comes to photovoltaics, many want to know whether their own roof is suitable for it.

Fortunately, all districts in the Oberland have a so-called solar cadastre.

Interested parties can check there free of charge whether their roof is suitable for solar energy and whether a system is worthwhile.

Energy transition Oberland

The Energiewende Oberland, founded in 2005, is one of the largest community foundations on the subject of the energy transition in Germany.

Members are the four districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Miesbach and Weilheim-Schongau as well as numerous municipalities, organizations, companies and citizens.

The area of ​​responsibility includes 450,000 inhabitants in 94 municipalities on almost 4,000 square meters.

The foundation supports and advises on the goal of supplying the region entirely with renewable energies by 2035.

With a view to the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen: What is the situation?

Where is the most potential?

Drexlmeier:

Most of the potential in the region lies in the area of ​​electricity from solar energy.

Only a fraction of the suitable roof areas - between six and seven percent - are used in the Oberland to produce clean electricity from the sun.

That is still clearly not enough.

But if we only expand the solar systems, we will have large surpluses in summer and not enough in winter.

The 2019 Inola study shows that we need a mix of hydropower, wind power, bioenergy, geothermal and solar power to reach the goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.

Also read: What is stopping wind power in the Oberland?

Can that be done at all?

Drexlmeier:

Yes!

Because all the regulations that are currently preventing us from reaching the goal are man-made and fortunately are not laws of nature.

In the Oberland there is enough sun, enough water flows down the streams, enough wind blows and enough growth is sustained to cover the electricity demand.

However, one must honestly say that the district has no influence on the major decisions such as the framework for renewable energies and realistic CO2 taxation.

These decisions are made in Berlin.

However, the goal formulated in the federal government's coalition agreement of producing 80 percent of electricity from renewable energies by 2030 points in the right direction.

What about heating?

Drexlmeier:

We still have a lot of catching up to do here.

Only every fifth private household is currently heated with renewable energies.

However, the goal of 100 percent cannot be achieved for heating if we do not also significantly reduce the heat requirement.

If, for example, twice as many buildings were renovated, we could reduce heating requirements by around 20 percent by 2035.

What is your advice to citizens and municipalities who now want to get away from Russian gas and oil as quickly as possible?

Drexlmeier:

Citizens should of course get information on our website as quickly as possible and register with a heating engineer to implement the project this year or next.

Municipalities are also affected by the high energy prices and want to switch to renewable energies.

We recommend that you quickly get an overview of the energy requirements of the building if you don't already have one.

It often makes sense not to think about each building individually, but instead to develop a small local heating network.

In some places, this also results in a village heating system.

It's a lot of effort at the beginning to get everyone together, but it's worth it for everyone in the end.

In short, in a municipality there is usually no getting around a small concept.

What do you think of the debate about nuclear energy as a possible bridging technology?

Drexlmeier:

The currently high energy prices were caused, among other things, by the fact that France had to send part of its nuclear power plants for maintenance in autumn 2021.

Since many French households heat with electricity, demand on the European electricity market has risen sharply and led to the first price shock.

Even if one disregards the unresolved issue of final storage, we would also have the problem with uranium that we could again become dependent on politically unstable countries.

That would be a clear step backwards from today's point of view.

Farmers in Manhartshofen (Dietramszell) recently withdrew their planning application for a solar park because they were attacked.

What do you think?

Drexlmeier:

I am very saddened by the fact that the project has been withdrawn due to local societal pressure.

Anyone who knows us as Energiewende Oberland knows that we see the urgency for solar systems to be built in the open field.

We will not reach the 2035 target without open-space solar systems.

It is important to emphasize that we live in a constitutional state and we have laws and ordinances that regulate how to proceed in the event of a building permit procedure.

It also stipulates that the public must be sufficiently and comprehensively involved in such a case.

Everyone could have expressed their concerns here, and the municipal council would have had to weigh up the various interests.

In my opinion, it should not be

www.energiewende-oberland.de

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