Link to the post from 23.10.2020 on the DGNB blog if the text above is not displayed:
https://blog.dgnb.de/studie-kosten-beim-nachhaltigen-bauen/
In the Bavarian 10,000 Houses Program, there is now also money for electricity storage units if the user installs them together with a PV system. Until the end of 2020, 24 million euros are available for the entire program.
The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs has launched the new photovoltaic storage programme. It is part of the well-known 10,000 Homes Programme. From 1 August, owners of detached and semi-detached houses can apply for funding for a new electricity storage unit in conjunction with a photovoltaic system. In addition, there is the possibility for a grant for the installation of a private charging station for electric vehicles.
"We need to make better use of the sun's potential," says Minister of Economics Hubert Aiwanger. " With the new support programme, we will give additional momentum to the energy transition. It sets the right incentives to advance the decentralised expansion of renewable energies in Bavaria and will actively involve citizens in the energy transition." Citizens can also reduce their electricity costs with the help of the programme. The smart controls and connections provided for under the funding will also enable plant operators to participate in regional direct electricity marketing in the future.
The subsidy amount is graduated according to the capacity of the battery storage unit and ranges from 500 euros for a three-kilowatt-hour storage unit to 3,200 euros for a 30-kilowatt-hour storage unit. The prerequisite, however, is that the applicant simultaneously installs a new photovoltaic system whose output in kilowatt-peak is at least equal to the value of the capacity of the battery storage unit. For an additional charging station for electric vehicles, the subsidy is 200 euros. The Ministry of Economics is providing up to 24 million euros for the 10,000 Houses Programme until the end of 2020.
The successful EnergySystemHouse programme component will be continued. There, too, the use of solar energy and its storage in combination with energy-efficient refurbishment or particularly efficient houses and systems will be promoted. "The targeted promotion of innovative technologies is working, manufacturers are developing new systems and bringing them to market," says Aiwanger. "The number of particularly efficient heat pumps on the market has increased from 40 models to over 160 models. In the case of high-efficiency heat storage systems, the eligible models have increased fivefold to more than 250 models in the same period. Energy advisors report that many building owners are improving their plans and constructing or refurbishing buildings much more efficiently because of the programme."
All subsidies of the 10,000 Houses Programme are coordinated with the federal programmes and can be combined. It is very easy to apply electronically. Further information and the application platform can be found under this link.
2.8.2019 | Source: StMWi
Keywords:
DE-News, Energy storage, Funding, Climate protection, News Blog Bavaria, PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement, Electricity storage, Environmental policy, Ecology
How people live and what mobility services they find in their surroundings determine the costs and the environmental balance of their daily journeys. Municipalities and companies can reduce housing costs with measures for sustainable mobility.
In Austria, a household spends an average of 5,100 euros a year on mobility, 95 percent of which is spent on the car. It pays to plan for mobility in housing construction and settlement development.
A housing location with walking distances and good infrastructure is the basis for lower transport costs. Since central plots of land are more expensive, mobility offers that help to keep the construction of underground garages or the land consumption for above-ground parking spaces low significantly reduce construction costs. At the same time, mobility offers that avoid the dependence on one's own car reduce the expenses for mobility.
From energy-saving house to transport-saving house
Significant progress has been made in the energy efficiency of residential buildings. However, climate-friendly mobility only plays a subordinate role in planning. However, residential projects need the integration of sustainable mobility concepts already in the planning stage. The concept of the energy-saving house must be further developed into a transport-saving house. The housing construction enables the right climate-friendly mobility offer for every way without the need for a car. Urban and spatial planning ensure short distances and a dense public transport network.
Every year, around 40,000 flats are built in new buildings in Austria. Eight out of ten everyday journeys begin or end at home. Where we live and what mobility services are available in the residential environment has a great influence on our mobility behaviour.
Including climate-friendly mobility in the planning of housing and settlement development reduces both construction costs and mobility costs.
"Instead of the obligation to build car parking spaces, offers for climate-friendly mobility should be created. In many places, expensively built underground car parks have a high vacancy rate."
Markus Gansterer, VCÖ Transport Policy
You can find the online version or download it here:
VCÖ Factsheet 2017-01
Keywords:
Car Free, Construction and operating costs, Bike-/Velo-City, Media, Mobility, New books and studies, News Blog Europe (without DE), News Blog Austria, Housing, Ecology, Economics
The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction today announced the Federal Urban Greening Award 2022. This year, the focus is on the topic of "Climate adaptation and quality of life".
Federal Minister Klara Geywitz: "Climate change is a stress test for our cities. We need more trees for a better urban climate, we need soils that can absorb heavy rainfall, we need less sealed land also for more biodiversity and against the heating up of residential neighbourhoods. With the Federal Urban Greening Award 2022, we are honouring the pioneering work that is already shaping the necessary transformation of cities today."
The award recognises best practice examples that show how municipalities can use their urban green spaces to positively influence the urban climate and reduce the negative effects of extreme weather conditions. The award also recognises innovative concepts for climate-adapted and vital urban green spaces that have already been tried and tested. The award is looking for open spaces that can be used by the public and that also meet the other requirements for the use of open spaces in cities and municipalities, including as spaces for recreation and social cohesion and as elements of an attractive network of cycle paths and footpaths. Cities and municipalities in Germany can now apply with their projects. Planning offices, citizens, universities, research institutions, initiatives or associations can participate in cooperation with their municipalities.
Subject to the funds available in the 2022 federal budget, the federal prize is endowed with prize money totalling up to 100,000 euros. In addition to exemplary implemented projects, the courage to experiment with promising new approaches is also rewarded.
An independent jury will decide in June 2022 which projects will be awarded prizes and recognition. It is composed of experts from the fields of garden and landscape architecture, climate adaptation, urban development and urban planning, representatives of the municipal umbrella organisations and from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Berlin in September 2022.
The Federal Urban Greening Award is an important building block in the implementation of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs' White Paper on Urban Greening. It is supported by the German Association of Cities and Towns, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and the German Association of Districts. The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) implements the Federal Urban Greening Award and provides technical support.
Further information under www.bundespreis-stadtgruen.de
Keywords:
Greening / climate adaptation, DE-News, Communities, Near-natural open space design, Permaculture, Quarters, Settlements, City, Water design, Contests & Prizes, Wildlife/animal friendly construction
Thüga closed the 2021 financial year with a good result. The approximately 100 municipal utilities and regional suppliers of the Thüga Group fully fulfilled their supply mandate and continued to drive forward the energy turnaround despite burdensome general conditions.
In 2021, the approximately 100 partner companies of Germany's largest association of municipal and regional energy and water suppliers had to face the price turbulence on the energy market and the associated consequences in addition to the ongoing impairments caused by the Corona pandemic. "The municipal utilities and regional suppliers have also coped very well with this second pandemic year," says Michael Riechel, Chairman of the Board of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft. "As operators of critical infrastructure, they fully met their responsibilities. They presented themselves to the people as a reliable local supplier - also by taking on stranded customers of energy discounters in the replacement supply as a result of the price turbulence."
Rising energy consumption and extreme price increases
Energy consumption in Germany increased by 2.6 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year. Both the economic recovery in the second and third quarters and the cooler weather compared to the previous year had an increasing effect on consumption. The rapid recovery of the economy combined with insufficient energy supply caused extreme price increases in the second half of 2021 with unprecedented price volatility. As a result, some energy discounters in Germany were no longer able or willing to meet their obligations to their customers. The municipal utilities and regional energy suppliers of the Thüga Group included these customers in the replacement supply and in some cases had to procure additional energy on the wholesale markets at short notice.
Stable investment result
In the first pandemic year 2020, it was assumed in the planning that the partner companies would have to bear a burden on their results and therefore make lower distributions to Thüga Aktiengesellschaft in 2021. The main reasons for this were assumed to be declining sales and bad debt losses. However, the impact of Corona effects on the annual financial statements as at 31 December 2021 for Thüga Aktiengesellschaft and the Thüga Holding Group turned out to be lower than expected, also due to rapid and targeted countermeasures.
The investment result of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft - the most important performance indicator in the income statement - fell by €16.9 million in 2021 compared to the previous year, from €338.7 million to €321.8 million. The main reason for the slight decline is lower distributions and profit transfers from some affiliated companies. The shareholders of Thüga Holding will receive a dividend of 259.0 million euros (previous year: 262.0 million euros) from the net retained profits of 266.5 million euros for the 2021 financial year (previous year: 270.9 million euros).
As at 31 December 2021, the Thüga Holding Group had a total of 878 employees (previous year 852). The number increased compared to the previous year, mainly in the Trading segment. This is due to the transfer of the trading activities of eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co. KG to Syneco Trading GmbH.
The financially effective investments in the 2021 business year were 43.6 million euros, slightly below the previous year's value (43.7 million euros). The focus of investment activity in the past year was in the network area as well as on various platform and innovation topics.
Coalition agreement: energy turnaround is a suburban turnaround
Thüga and its partner companies see their course confirmed by the coalition agreement: "The coalition agreement has climate protection as its guiding principle. We share this conviction and, together with around 100 regional energy and water suppliers, are ready to play an active role in shaping this change locally," says Michael Riechel.
Natural gas was stipulated in the coalition agreement as an indispensable component of the upcoming transformation process. Against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, however, it is essential to reduce gas and coal purchases from Russia in the short and medium term and to further diversify the sources of supply. Biogas has enormous potential for this, which has so far been neglected by politicians. In the medium term, more biogas plants should be built and existing plants expanded.
Furthermore, the coalition agreement names hydrogen as a key technology of the future. Thüga is equally convinced that hydrogen can make a rapid contribution to CO2 reduction across all sectors. A common regulatory framework for gas and hydrogen networks must be created in order to achieve the necessary planning and investment security here. The same applies to the electricity supply, which is to be based 80 percent on renewable energies by 2030. In addition to the expansion of renewable energies, attractive investment conditions for distribution grid operators must also contribute to the necessary expansion of the grid infrastructure.
"Municipal empowerment is important, i.e. the involvement and responsibility of the municipalities and their municipal utilities in the development and practical implementation of all necessary regulations and measures," emphasises Michael Riechel. "After all, they are the shapers of the energy transition on site, they know the local and regional conditions and the needs of the citizens.
Strong together
In order to drive forward the energy transition and make processes more efficient through digitalisation, the Thüga Group network continues to rely on cooperations and joint platforms. For example, numerous Thüga partner companies have contributed their expertise and know-how to the development of the Thüga Billing Platform (TAP). TAP is designed to handle billing processes in the commodity sector efficiently and automatically. The goal is better performance at reduced costs - and solutions that are adapted to the specific requirements of the Thüga Group. In 2022, the platform will be set up for the market roles of supplier, grid operator and metering point operator. The go-live is planned for the beginning of 2023. "We are bundling more than 15 million metering points from 38 companies with over 120 companies on one platform, which were previously billed in many different IT environments," says Dr Matthias Cord, Deputy CEO of Thüga. "A transformation project that is unique in its scope in Thüga's history and one of the largest solutions on the market."
The Thüga working group Hydrogen bundles and coordinates the hydrogen activities of the Thüga Group. Experts from various Thüga competence centres promote both knowledge management and the exchange between the partner companies. In addition, new knowledge is gained with the help of pilot projects and the political discourse is supported in a targeted manner. Among other things, the focus is on hydrogen in the heating market, decentralised generation and the blending of H2 into the existing gas grid. In order to test this, Thüga, together with Energie Südbayern GmbH, will conduct a pilot project in the Project H2 Direct convert a section of an existing natural gas distribution network to supply private households and a commercial customer with 100 per cent hydrogen for 18 months.
2021, the Thüga Holding Group completed the nachhaltigkeit@thuega project, published its first sustainability report and passed the topic down the line. The aim of this integrated sustainability management is to structure, further develop and make transparent all economic, ecological and social sustainability topics. "We want to continue to do business successfully in the future and address the relevant topics. As a municipal utility association, we have a special responsibility here. After all, as the Thüga Group we cover important basic needs of our customers - with electricity, gas, water, heat, data and some more. And anyone who provides such services of general interest has to think ahead," says Dr Christof Schulte, Member of the Board of Thüga Aktiengesellschaft. Based on the sustainability project, the Thüga Holding Group has undergone an ESG rating (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) for the first time. The assessment was carried out by the recognised rating agency ISS ESG and resulted in a grade C. "We are proud that we were able to achieve the so-called prime status with our first rating result - this is awarded to companies that demonstrate above-average sustainability performance in their industry," says Dr Christof Schulte.
Together for security of supply in the crisis
Nothing is currently occupying the energy sector as much as the Ukraine war. In the long term, accelerating the energy transition will be a key factor in reducing dependence on Russia. In order to secure the energy supply in the current critical situation and make it more resilient, Thüga is constantly advising and examining all possible options and necessary measures together with its partner companies and the energy industry associations. Thüga also supports its partner companies with up-to-date assessments of the legal situation and recommendations on crisis and incident management.
Detailed information on the 2021 financial year and current developments in the Thüga Group can be found in Thüga's Annual Report and Financial Report, which are available at www.thuega.de/downloads are available.
About Thüga:
Thüga Aktiengesellschaft (Thüga), based in Munich, is an investment and specialist consulting company with a municipal base. Founded in 1867, it is a minority shareholder in around 100 municipal energy and water companies across Germany. The respective majority shareholders are cities and municipalities. Together with its partners, Thüga forms the largest municipal association of local and regional energy and water supply companies in Germany - the Thüga Group.
The common goal is to shape the future of municipal energy and water supply. With its more than 200 employees, Thüga continues to develop and expand the Group, supports municipal companies with consulting and service companies and thus contributes to the competitiveness of its partners. They are responsible for active market cultivation with their local and regional brands: In total, the Thüga partners with their more than 21,000 employees supply over four million customers with electricity, two million customers with natural gas and one million customers with drinking water across Germany. In 2019, they generated sales of 24 billion euros.
Keywords:
Citizen Energy, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Communities, Sustainable management, City
