When it comes to photovoltaics, Fraunberg wants to “think bigger”

Created: 06/27/2022, 12:00 p.m

By: Friedbert Holz

So far, individual homeowners and businesses in Fraunberg have installed solar panels on their roofs.

"But we have to think bigger," says Mayor Hans Wiesmaier (symbol image).

© Marijan Murat/dpa

Which areas in the municipality of Fraunberg are suitable for photovoltaic ground-mounted systems?

An expert should now clarify this question.

Fraunberg

- "One kilowatt of electricity from photovoltaics is the gold currency of the future," enthused Alexandru Steininger to the Fraunberg municipal council about possible profit margins.

The administration had invited the managing director of power2nature GmbH from Forstinning to the meeting to learn more about the implementation and opportunities of photovoltaics on open space systems in the municipal area.

With one dissenting vote, Steininger was finally commissioned to determine a basic possibility for using such areas, further decisions can then follow.

So far, individual homeowners and businesses have installed solar panels on their roofs.

"That doesn't cause confrontation, this use of solar energy on a small private basis is probably undisputed.

But we have to think bigger,” said Mayor Hans Wiesmaier, stimulating the discussion.

Expert Steininger agreed with him and explained: “In Fraunberg there are already 22 households with clean electricity from photovoltaics.

This means that an output of 66 kilowatts can be achieved with a CO2 saving of around 26 tons per year.

Without larger open spaces with this technology, however, an energy transition cannot be achieved. We must achieve an increase of at least 370 percent compared to today.” A location concept is necessary for this, and photovoltaic areas must then be identified as a special area in a land use plan process , “regardless of their size”.

The first thing to do is to find suitable locations in the municipal area - especially properties near the forest, biotopes, railway tracks, roads as well as settlement and compensation areas must be examined very carefully with regard to a certain distance regulation.

Steininger explained that in Fraunberg, around 520 hectares could theoretically be designated as suitable for photovoltaic systems, whose potential he estimates at 400 to 500 megawatts.

"We calculate very roughly that 50 hectares of photovoltaic area can supply around 14,000 households with clean electricity and generate up to 100,000 euros per year for a community.

At the same time, the actual goal is to save around 20,000 tons of CO2 a year.”

As managing director of a specialist company, he also showed what the individual steps to more renewable energy generation look like.

“It takes two to three months to examine the situation in a community, including asking a grid operator who is interested in electricity.

If the decision is positive, the planning time could be twelve months, followed by the actual construction phase and finally commissioning.” Regardless of the size of the area, costs for a transformer system and for a transfer facility for the electricity generated to a network operator must be expected.

His company provides the know-how for the examination phase free of charge.

If this test developed by power2nature is approved by the municipal council as suitable, a detailed location concept with a presentation of the so-called area backdrop will follow.

The suitable open spaces are noted therein, which can then be presented to the respective property owners in a non-public event.

If they are interested in a system, they will receive further advice and an exact examination of their parcels on request.

Finally, the municipality opens a building management procedure, and the plant can be built.

also read

Special task force storms Therme Erding

Erding becomes a climbing paradise

The committee had a number of questions to be clarified, such as distances from houses, dual use for farmers and feed-in tariffs for the public electricity grid.

"On average, around five cents per kilowatt hour are currently paid," explained Steininger, but ultimately the price had to be negotiated individually between the supplier and the customer.

"But the electricity prices on the market are constantly rising, and cooperative models are particularly interesting for citizens."

Wiesmaier sees an examination initially under the motto of finding out the interest of potential investors.

"And we should expect that in the end there will probably not only be beneficiaries, but also opponents - as with any new technology."

Erding newsletter: Everything from your region!

Our Erding newsletter informs you regularly about all the important stories from the Erding region - including all the news about the Corona crisis in your community.

Sign up here.