The UN's "Green Climate Fund" in the South Korean city of Songdo has a luxury problem: there is enough money. What's missing are good ideas for spending it www.taz.de/!5315954
Inselwerke eG has been named Citizen Energy Project of the Year 2017. Photo: Matthias Gründling / Inselwerke eG
In future, three citizens' energy cooperatives will bear the award "Citizens' Energy Project 2017". A total of 17 projects nationwide took part in the competition for the title. The three winning projects received a particularly large number of votes during a two-month internet voting process, in which around a thousand interested people took part, and also prevailed in the evaluation of the jury consisting of committee representatives of the Bündnis Bürgerenergie (BBEn). The jury, consisting of five BBEn committee members, was impressed by the large number of applications to the competition, which was held for the first time, as well as the diversity of the applicant projects. According to the jury, the high level of the winning projects also shows how versatile the citizen energy companies in Germany currently are. This can be seen in the very different activities of the three winning cooperatives and the projects they submitted.
Development of a charging network According to the jury, the project of Inselwerke eG to set up an e-charging network on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom combines sustainable mobility and the expansion of the regional infrastructure so that "a strengthening of the important economic factor of tourism is achieved", as Thomas Banning, member of the jury and BBEn supervisory board member, emphasises. The professional concept of the cooperative convinced the jury and shows which business models are open to citizen energy companies. In particular, the possible duplicability of the charging network and the associated high reach of this approach are aspects that the jury considers worthy of an award. The Inselwerke eG developed a special Usedom model for a multi-stage expansion of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles - not only on the Baltic Sea island, but also for the entire state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Since April 2016, the cooperative has been able to set up 16 charging stations at 12 locations in cooperation with 11 partners, and more are currently being planned.
Noise barrier with integrated photovoltaic system The second winner, the EnergieGenossenschaft Inn-Salzach eG, is awarded for its noise barrier with integrated PV system. The energy cooperative in the Upper Bavarian region had erected a noise barrier together with the town of Neuötting. The 230-metre-long and almost five-metre-high structure along a busy road is also equipped with solar power panels. The modules together have a maximum output of 64 kilowatts, which can cover half of the electricity needs of a nearby school during the day. In addition, the wall also separates the school from traffic noise. In addition, the project flows into the lessons and thus ensures a tangible integration of the topic for the pupils.
According to the jury, this integrative concept reflects the current progress of the energy transition and uses dormant potential. Thomas Banning emphasises the recognisable double benefit of the solar noise barrier as follows: "The noise barrier combines the generation of clean energy with protection from the negative consequences of car traffic. The whole thing also has a high aesthetic value and is easy to communicate. That's how you move more!"
Innovative municipal energy concept The third winner, BürgerEnergiegenossenschaft Emmendingen eG, is awarded for its activities as a cooperative. According to Kai Hock, member of the jury and BBEn supervisory board member, it strives for a holistic energy transition from a technical point of view. It achieves a strong local impact with its activities, which can be seen, for example, in the number of 180 members. Thus, the cooperative has a high reach of the energy transition with its projects and achieves this with different forms of application and technologies, which is why a high innovative character can also be attributed to it.
For example, Emmendinger eG gave schools and residential buildings an all-round energy upgrade, consisting of heating systems, CHP systems and solar systems. It has also equipped buildings such as the adult education centre with photovoltaic systems on a lease model. In addition, a PV system on a goat shed with 250 kWp is currently being planned.
According to the jury, the three winners are particularly representative of the high level of activity of the many citizens' energy associations in Germany. They are therefore rightly awarded the title "Citizen Energy Project of the Year", on which the jury congratulates them warmly.
Heating village heating networks with sun and wood is becoming a model for success. In Germany, five such heat supply systems are being launched this year.
While the heating sector is the problem child of the energy transition throughout Germany, numerous villages are showing how the conversion to renewable energies can be mastered in one fell swoop. More and more often, village communities are relying on a combination of sun and wood, with a large solar thermal system taking over the entire heat supply in the summer. While one such network was launched in each of the past two years, the number of German solar bioenergy villages will grow by five to a total of eight by the end of 2018.
Thomas Pauschinger, a member of the management team at the Steinbeis Research Institute Solites in Stuttgart, where he is in charge of the Solnet 4.0 project for the promotion of solar heating networks, sees a clear trend towards solar heating in Germany's villages: "It is obvious that solar thermal energy is becoming a reliable and economical heat generator in more and more energy villages, because such systems are a future-proof investment and enjoy a high level of acceptance among the residents. With current technology, even more is possible than the 20-percent share that is common in Germany's solar villages today, says Pauschinger: "We expect that in the future solar thermal will not only cover the summer demand of such heating networks, but will also achieve higher solar shares through larger storage tanks."
New to the club are:
Solar energy village Liggeringen, district of the town of Radolfzell, Baden-Württemberg Operator: Stadtwerke Radolfzell GmbH
Commissioning: 2018
House connections: 90 (first construction phase)
Network length: 5 km
Collector area: 1,100 m² (first construction phase)
Collector type: High-temperature flat-plate collectors
Expected annual yield: 470 MWh/a
Solar coverage: 20 %
Solar energy village Randegg, district of the municipality of Gottmadingen, Baden-Württemberg Operator: Solarcomplex AG
Commissioning of heating network: 2009
Commissioning solar thermal: 2018
House connections:150
Network length: 6.6 km
Collector area: 2,400 m2
Collector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
Expected annual yield: 1100 MWh/a
Solar coverage: 20 %
Solar energy village Mengsberg, district of the town of Neustadt, Hesse Operator: Bioenergiegenossenschaft Mengsberg BEGM eG
Commissioning: 2018
House connections: 150
Network length: 9 km
Collector area: 3,000 m2 Collector type: High-temperature flat-plate collectors Expected annual yield: 900 MWh/a
Solar coverage: 17 %
Solar Energy Village Breklum, Schleswig-HolsteinOperator: BürgerGemeindeWerke Breklum e.G.
Commissioning: 2018
House connections: 42 (first construction phase)
Network length: 3.8 km
Collector area: 652 m2 (first expansion stage)
Collector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
Expected annual yield: 289 MWh/a (first construction phase)
Solar coverage: 8 %
Solar energy village Ellern, district of the municipality of Rheinböllen, Rhineland-Palatinate Commissioning: 2018
House connections: 105
Network length: 5.3 km
Collector area: 1,245 m2
Collector type: CPC vacuum tube collectors
Expected annual yield: 555 MWh/a
Solar coverage: 15 %
Further information on the use of large solar thermal systems in villages, neighbourhoods and cities can be found on the website www.solare-waermenetze.de. The Steinbeis Research Institute Solites offers initial consultations for interested municipalities.
The Solnet 4.0 project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and companies in the solar thermal industry. Project partners are the AGFW - Effizienzverband für Wärme, Kälte, KWK, the Steinbeis Research Institute Solites, Bröer & Witt GbR and the Hamburg Institute.
An official delegation of the COP23 visits the student dormitory "42!" not far from Bonn University during the UN Climate Conference in Bonn. The house in passive house standard in wood hybrid construction offers its residents energy-efficient and at the same time ecological living space. This includes a photovoltaic system, rainwater harvesting for flushing toilets and a building automation system that also sends mails to the students.
We use cookies to optimize our website and services.
Functional
Always active
Technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a particular service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that have not been requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access, which is solely for statistical purposes.Technical storage or access used solely for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary consent from your Internet service provider, or additional records from third parties, information stored or accessed for this purpose cannot generally be used alone to identify you.
Marketing
Technical storage or access is necessary to create user profiles, to send advertising or to track the user on a website or across multiple websites for similar marketing purposes.