Renewable energies - Bavaria hardly promotes geothermal energy and wind power
From approximately 295 million Euros of state funding for investments in the energy transition, only 1.7 million went to wind energy and not even one million Euro to the geothermal energy, which is frequently praised by the state government. In contrast, 191 million Euros, the largest share, went to hydrogen projects. This information comes from a response by the Economic Ministry to a query by the Greens in the Bavarian Parliament, which was obtained by the German Press Agency in Munich. The remaining approximately 102 million Euros were invested by the state in solar projects, a large part of which in a long-discontinued battery storage program.
"This one-sided focus of Bavarian funding policy shows the misguided approach of the Söder-Aiwanger government in the energy transition. In geothermal energy, it's disastrous: No single Euro since the end of 2018," said the energy policy spokesperson for the Landgreens, Martin Stümpfig. "And the same goes for wind energy: there's almost no support from the state government."
Greens: Hydrogen must be produced with renewable energy
Regarding the funds for hydrogen projects such as hydrogen filling stations or electrolysis plants, Stümpfig does not criticize the general funding, but rather the fact that the use of renewable energy was not a prerequisite for funding for numerous projects: "At the same time, hundreds of millions are being given for the production and use of hydrogen, while the necessary wind turbines, to produce this hydrogen, are not being built."
"It's shocking to see how taxpayer funds are being misused by (Economic Minister Hubert) Aiwanger (Free Voters) and (Minister-President Markus) Söder (CSU). These funds could have been used urgently to promote, for example, intelligent storage systems that would relieve our power grids and thus lower network fees, or heating networks," said Stümpfig.
This "misguided path," as Stümpfig called it, also shows up in solar funding - no one of the 46,000 battery home storage systems in the Bayernwerk grid area was funded. An additional 11 million Euros went to the insolvent company Tubesolar. "A major opportunity was missed with the funded energy storage systems to relieve the power grid," said Stümpfig.
Criticism also of meager funding for geothermal energy
According to Stümpfig, effective promotion of geothermal energy could work, but the Federal Government shows how, he said. For example, geothermal projects in Grünwald and Pullach recently received a funding approval of over 60 million Euros. "In contrast, the five million Euros that the state government wants to invest to lift this Bavarian treasure is really just a joke," said Stümpfig. In total, the state government invests too little in renewables - the 295.3 million Euros from the past six years alone will amount to approximately 500 million Euros in the budget 2024/2025 for road construction.
During the Federal government's efforts to take in a lot of money to significantly reduce dependencies on expensive and dirty oil, coal, and gas, and make the Energy Transition a success, the Söder-Aiwanger government instead opts for inefficient, one-sided, and insufficient funding, and is thus leading the Energy Transition in Bavaria to the brink, stated Stümpfig.
- Despite Bavaria receiving 295 million Euros in subsidy money for renewable energies, only 1.7 million Euros were allocated to wind power, with none going to geothermal energy, as criticized by the Greens' energy policy spokesperson, Martin Stümpfig.
- Stümpfig also pointed out that while 191 million Euros were invested in hydrogen projects, the necessary wind turbines for producing hydrogen were not built, leading to a misuse of taxpayer funds, according to the Greens.
- Regarding geothermal energy, Stümpfig noted that while the Federal Government invests heavily, such as in projects in Grünwald and Pullach, Bavaria only plans to invest 5 million Euros, which Stümpfig deemed insufficient.
- Stümpfig criticized the Söder-Aiwanger government for their inefficient, one-sided, and insufficient funding of renewable energies, as they should be using these funds to make significant strides in the Energy Transition and reduce reliance on expensive and dirty fossil fuels.
- In a statement, Stümpfig stated that the Söder-Aiwanger government's approach to renewable energies, particularly in wind power and geothermal energy, is misguided and leading to a failure in the Energy Transition in Bavaria.
