Greens: Other federal states leave Bavaria behind when it comes to geothermal energy
The Greens fear for Bavaria's leading position among the federal states in the use of geothermal energy. "The Free State is now also being left behind by other federal states when it comes to geothermal energy," said Martin Stümpfig, energy policy spokesman for the state parliamentary group, to the German Press Agency in Munich. He was referring to the "Champion Deep Geothermal Energy" prize awarded to the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by the German Geothermal Energy Association in October.
The prize was awarded to the federal state with the largest increase in installed capacity in deep geothermal energy (thermal) and the largest installed capacity per inhabitant. With an addition of 6.7 megawatts, the installed capacity in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania more than doubled compared to the previous year - nothing was added in Bavaria, which is why the value was set at 0. In terms of installed capacity per capita, on the other hand, Bavaria was still the nationwide leader with 0.029 KW/inhabitant - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania only achieved a value of 0.0073 KW/inhabitant.
Bavaria has regularly received the award in recent years. Most recently, Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) received it in 2021.
"Bavaria has done nothing to expand geothermal energy. We Greens have been criticizing the state government for years," said Stümpfig. Only 7.5 million euros had been set aside for geothermal energy in the state budget. "That's not even enough for one borehole," said Stümpfig. The state government's energy policy was ensuring that Bavaria was being left behind even in areas with the best starting conditions.
"And there is no improvement in sight. The declarations of intent on geothermal energy in the coalition agreement are windy and not suitable for the necessary speed," said Stümpfig. There are no promises for more investment, only a reference to a federal funding program. The petrothermal geothermal energy project in northern Bavaria mentioned in the coalition agreement already exists. In order to achieve more momentum in geothermal energy, a guarantee program is needed to secure the risks for drilling and a separate heating network program.
The Greens are concerned that Bavaria's dominance in energy usage from geothermal sources could be threatened, given that other federal states are increasingly excelling in this area. The lack of investment in geothermal energy projects by the Bavarian government has been a recurring point of criticism by the Greens, who argue that it's insufficient for even a single borehole.
Source: www.dpa.com
