Wildpoldsried: The Bavarian village that doesn't need Putin's gas

Created: 08/22/2022, 05:04

By: Matthew Schneider

Modernity meets tradition: In Wildpoldsried in the Ostallgäu, wind turbines and photovoltaics on the roofs have long been part of the picture.

The cows continue to graze.

© Municipality/Pfluger

The village of Wildpoldsried in the Oberallgäu district produces more green electricity than it needs - and the citizens make money from it.

A visit.

Wildpoldsried – Eleven wind turbines turn on the ridge.

The large rotors are an eye-catcher.

You can see them from several kilometers away – an unusual concentration for Bavaria.

In the valley between the lush green hills lies the village of Wildpoldsried with a population of 2,500.

Photovoltaic systems glisten on the roofs, and an unobstructed Alpine panorama stretches out behind the community.

It's a hot summer's day and the Federal Republic is trembling because Russia is supplying less and less gas.

In Wildpoldsried in the Oberallgäu district, just ten kilometers from Kempten, winter can come – the village no longer needs Putin's gas.

"Wind and sun are free, you don't need any special talent to realize this," says Wendelin Einsiedler.

The 66-year-old from the Allgäu sits in the study of his remote farm above the village.

How Wildpoldsried got its wind turbines

On the wooded hill behind Einsiedler's farm, the rotors turn in the strong wind that blows over the crest.

The farmer wanted to tap this potential almost 30 years ago: “In 1999 I invited people to an information event in the local newspaper.

In the end, 30 brave people came together to form a civil society.” The 30 shareholders raised a quarter of the capital and borrowed the rest from the bank.

"The community had a positive attitude and the permit was granted relatively quickly," says Einsiedler.

One wind turbine wasn't enough for him: over the years he continued to advertise, founded new civil societies and built new wind turbines.

"In total, I now operate 18 wind turbines in ten civil societies." The demand from citizens for participation is so great that deposits had to be capped: "We have currently set 5,000 euros so that small investors also have a chance."

Wendelin Einsiedler is the managing director of ten civil societies that operate wind turbines.

And he uses liquid manure and green waste for biogas.

© Schneider

Einsiedler is currently considering a financing model: "Young people should also be able to invest locally on a loan basis," says the farmer.

The only condition: you have to be a citizen.

The investment has been particularly worthwhile since 2021: "We are currently paying out profits once a quarter so that we don't have to pay a storage fee," explains Wendelin Einsiedler with a broad grin.

"My shareholders are very satisfied."

Gas crisis: The people of Wildpoldsried can now sell their electricity at high prices

Because since the beginning of 2021, electricity prices based on the gas price have been rising steeply.

The people of Wildpoldsried can sell their electricity at a high price via a marketer.

“Previously only three to five cents could be achieved on the electricity market.

Investment and operation of a wind turbine were only possible thanks to the EEG surcharge," says Einsiedler.

“This June we got 19 cents on the stock exchange – there is currently no lack of profitability.”

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The funding has prevented worse things from happening in the current crisis: “Thanks to the EEG surcharge, we have at least 50 percent green electricity in Germany.

But it could have been 80 percent if the expansion had not been blocked in recent years.”

“Other municipalities would also have good areas for wind turbines.

Then it was often said: If we don’t want to, we don’t need it.”

Wendelin Einsiedler, head of ten wind turbine civil societies

While the “power pope” acts as managing director for the wind power companies, he himself operates a biogas plant with an attached power plant: “We collect manure and green waste from 50 farmers, process it into biogas and drive the nutrients back to them in the fields – of course they will find that good,” explains Einsiedler.

He also got the problem of environmental pollution from too much nitrate from the liquid manure under control: "I built a fertilizer plant that makes biological mineral fertilizer." The plant may have cost around one million euros, but it is now profitable: " You can spread mineral fertilizer indefinitely – and sell it if you have to.” Because synthetic fertilizer is normally produced with gas, so the market prices are very high at the moment.

Heating costs are also rising in Wildpoldsried, but less drastically

The electricity from the biogas plant can be accessed when the wind is not blowing and market prices are high.

When generating electricity, heat is generated, which Einsiedler sells to around 30 customers in the area via water pipes.

There is also a gas line that is almost five kilometers long in the main town of Wildpoldsried.

There, the biogas feeds two combined heat and power plants, as Susi Zengerle explains.

She is responsible for energy and climate protection in the municipality of Wildpoldsried: “From 2005 we have operated the heating network with pellet heating.

Since 2011 we have been able to use about 90 percent of the waste heat from Wendelin Einsiedler's power plants."

A total of 79 connections are supplied in this way, including schools, kindergartens, town halls, retirement homes, commercial units and private apartments.

"It cost around 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour gross, so it was relatively cheap," says Zengerle.

Due to the high demand, the network was constantly expanded, which means that pellet heating was used more frequently again.

That worked well until demand exploded because of the current energy crisis: "We used to buy pellets for 140 euros a ton, now it's 500, some expect 700 euros," says Zengerle.

This will increase operating costs: "We expect heating costs to double".

But that's still far less than the tripling that experts are predicting for natural gas customers.

In addition, Wildpoldsried is working on solutions again: “We have solar systems on almost every municipal building.

We thus generate more net than we consume,” says Zengerle.

Most of the systems were installed in 2004, so the electricity generated will continue to be fed into the power grid for the EEG surcharge for another two years.

"After that, the systems will no longer be eligible and we can think about how to use the electricity," explains the energy officer.

One possibility: electricity-to-heat systems.

"We have some well-insulated buildings, so it makes sense to heat them with electricity and use the district heating capacities for other purposes." To do this, the volatile solar energy would have to be buffered: "If the systems only produce for our own needs, then we will be safe install an electricity storage device in every building,” says Zengerle.

Why the energy transition worked in Wildpoldsried

Why does the energetic mammoth project work in Wildpoldsried of all places?

For Einsiedler, a success of local politics: there were occasional concerns from the public, he says.

But there was no widespread resistance.

"We had the community on our side, without them it wouldn't work." Einsiedler knows it differently: "Other communities would also have good areas for wind turbines.

Then it was often said: If we don’t want to, we don’t need it.”

A widespread phenomenon in Bavaria.

Einsiedler hopes that the current crisis will have an effect: "We had it after Chernobyl, we had it after Fukushima: After every disaster, people are on track for three years, after which they forget everything and carry on as before.

Hopefully it will be different this time.”