Green Bavarian energy
November 9, 2009
By 2015, Munich hopes to supply enough renewable electricity to meet the needs of all private households in the city. Currently, the capital city of the southern German state of Bavaria relies on a mix of energy sources including non-renewable electricity generated from coal and nuclear power plants.
If the plan succeeds, the city with 1.3 million inhabitants will become the first German city housing a million residents to power its private households entirely with renewable energy.
Ambitious energy changes by 2025
Munich has established a more ambitious goal for 2025: the city's electric company SWM will produce enough electricity to power not only private homes but also businesses and industrial buildings.
Munich plans to rely on multiple renewable energies to meet its goal, including solar, water and geothermal power. The city estimates an investment of 9 billion euros ($13.4 billion) will be necessary to produce the 7.5 billion kilowatt hours of energy needed by Munich homes and businesses.
Mayor Christian Ude believes SWM can serve as a reliable and financially strong investor in the project. So far, Munich officials have consciously avoided privatizing the city's electricity supplier, in contrast to other large cities in Germany.
A pioneer in green energy
"A city needs to be in the position financially to institute energy conservation programs, and a city must own utility companies if it wants to engage in energy politics," said Ude, a member of the Social Democratic Party.
Ude budgets 10 million euros annually to promote energy saving construction and renovation. Munich is also heavily subsidizing a project that aims to build up solar technology in the community.
These efforts are part of the city's long-standing commitment to reducing its dependence on non-renewable energy. As early as 1997, Munich began operating the largest roof-top solar panel in Europe. The large solar unit spreads across six roofs and has produced 10 million kilowatt hours of energy thus far, which takes care of the energy needs of 4,000 private households.
Other green energy projects instituted by the city include a wind power unit that has generated 2.3 million kilowatt hours of eco-friendly electricity and a novel geothermal heating plant. Munich's geothermal plant was the first of its kind in the world, but 55 countries have since adopted models resembling it.
From water to geothermal energy
A cave explorer discovered the energy source that made Munich's geothermal heating plant possible. The hobbyist explorer noted the existence of underground water stores reaching 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit) located 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) below Riem, an area within Munich.
The geothermal plant works by "pumping the hot water to the surface and transferring it to heat converters," explained Stephan Schwarz, the Head of Maintenance and Technology for the city's utility company that operates the plant. "Afterwards, the cooled water is redistributed to the city’s water supply."
Since 2004, the geothermal plant has spared the city 34,000 tons in CO2 emissions. That figure represents ten percent of the CO2 emissions generated annually by car traffic in Munich.
Creating a green future
Officials hope to take the idea a step further with a new plant in Sauerlach, a town near Munich. There, underground water sources reach a temperature of 143 degrees Celsius and could be used to generate electricity.
The limited space available in the Bavarian capital, however, sets limits on how much energy the city can generate from renewable sources. As such, the city has begun investing in large-scale renewable energy plants in other regions. Munich currently has shares in the largest offshore wind park in the North Sea and in a solar-thermal power plant in the Spanish state of Andalusia that will be hooked up to the city’s power network in 2011.
The German Agency for Renewable Energy named Munich its Energy Community 2009 in October in light of its contributions to promoting green energy.
Author: Daniel Schewschkewitz (gw)
Editor: Mark Mattox