In the Uniper rescue: Bavaria's Greens want hydroelectric power plants to be returned to the Free State in return
Created: 07/15/2022Updated: 07/15/2022 10:42 am
By: Thomas Schmidtutz
Hydroelectric power plant: Bavaria's Greens are calling for the hydroelectric power plants to be returned to the Free State earlier in the event of state aid from the ailing utility Uniper.
(symbol photo) © Armin Weigel/dpa
Most of the hydroelectric power plants on the Lech belong to Uniper and are scheduled to return to the Free State in 2034.
The Greens don't want to wait that long and see the supplier as having an obligation to provide state aid beforehand.
In return for a state rescue of the ailing gas supplier Uniper, Bavaria's Greens are demanding that twelve hydroelectric power plants be returned to the Free State.
The state government should do everything in its power to bring the hydroelectric power plants back into public ownership sooner than planned, said Greens parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann of the
Augsburger Allgemeine
.
The power plants were privatized during the term of office of the then CSU Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber (1993 to 2007).
According to the report, the return of the water rights of twelve of the company's 22 hydroelectric power plants to the Free State - also known as "trespassing" in technical jargon - has actually only been agreed for 2034.
The hydroelectric power plants (“Power Plant Group Lech”) are located along the almost 260 km long river, which flows into the Danube near Donauwörth.
"Now is the time for error correction," said Green politician Hartmann.
Uniper: Hydroelectric power plants should be returned to the state
In the coming years, with the expiry of the water rights at many Bavarian power plants, there will be an opportunity to give them back to the general public.
"We put electricity production, flood protection and water ecology in one hand: the public one," said Hartmann.
This is a historic opportunity that "the Free State must not let slip."
Uniper has officially applied for state aid.
The step as a prerequisite for a possible entry of the federal government.
Germany's largest gas importer is under financial pressure due to the sharp rise in gas prices and reduced gas supplies from Russia.
Gas prices have recently risen drastically because of the Ukraine war.
The group cannot currently pass on the additional costs to its customers.
According to analyst estimates, the company is currently making a loss of 900 million euros per month.
Uniper is majority owned by the Finnish group Fortum.
(dpa/utz)
