German Lessons: Dairy Town Produces Excess Energy, Cash

What Happened?

A German dairy town is producing literally three times the energy it uses, and is generating extra revenue for a new school, gymnasium, six new buildings, and more. The secret? A renewable energy strategy that was started in the late 1990s with private capital, and is now bearing fruit. And money.

The Strategy

The town, a dairy community in Bavaria called Wildpoldsried, began executing on a Wildpoldsried Innovative Leadership plan in 1997, known as WIR-2020. A blueprint for ostensibly reinventing the community, the plan called for a multifaceted renewable energy program that would generate revenue without creating debt. It comprised solar, wind, hydro, biogas, and more.

How Did They Do It?

The short answer? Private funding. Nearly every component of the strategy (see below) was developed through private investors, including residents; in fact, some elements of the program were only open to investment by residents. According to reports, private investors of the turbines will have been paid back in 10 years, and the rest is profit for investors. This strategy is in line with EfficientGov’s ongoing coverage of public-private partnerships, including Chicago’s new $7 billion infrastructure fund.

The Results

Fourteen years after launching the initiative, the town is producing 330 percent of the electricity that its 2,600 residents use. Excess capacity feeds the grid, with annual revenues exceeding $7 million U.S. dollars. Revenues are expected to increase dramatically as soon as two additional turbines come online; the town soon expects to produce 500 percent of its energy demands

Components

The sustainability scheme includes several components. Extensive details and facts about each component can be found in the original coverage of the town in BioCycle magazine; a slideshow of the town’s systems is also available:

• Windmills: The town currently has seven windmills, and two more on the way. The town’s first two turbines, erected in 1999, were funded by private investors, debt, and a small grant from the state of Bavaria. Local residents funded the second pair of turbines in 2001, and more were added after 2008. According to BioCycle, “investors in the society’s community windmill projects have been receiving a minimum of an 8 to 10 percent return on their investments.”
• Solar Power: Nine municipal buildings sport rooftop solar panels, as do nearly 200 private residences. A German tax program was a catalyst for the private installation of solar panels, but most residents borrowed money that is being paid back by power-company revenue; electricity generated from the panels is sold to a regional power company at guaranteed rates. Excess revenue has paid for school equipment, a volunteer fire department, and more. The solar strategy has also apparently created a healthy cottage industry of installers, engineers, and maintenance companies.
• BioMass Heating: The city shut down its oil heaters in community buildings and replaced them with a biomass system that utilizes wood pellets. That biomass system is now an interconnected network that helps heat 42 local buildings, and has saved 45,000 gallons of oil. This heating network is apparently growing, as residents replace their own oil heaters by connecting to the central network.
• Hydro Power: The town’s hydro strategy is on a smaller scale than its solar and wind strategy. The town brought idled river turbines back online, and it now has three small hydro power plants.
• BioGas: The town currently has four “anaerobic digesters,” in which organic waste (i.e., manure) is converted into composting or other saleable material. Gov1 recently covered a similar digester in San Jose, California; anaerobic digestion facilities are also under consideration in Palo Alto, Oakland, Toronto, and elsewhere.
• Other: The city also has developed a natural wastewater system, as well as ecological flood control systems. Recycling and composting programs are also mature and widely adopted.

According to ReCharge, all excess electricity generated from solar, wind, and biomass systems are sold to a regional power company under a fixed-price, 20-year deal.

Action Items

This modest farming community has ostensibly achieved energy independence and generated significant revenues along the way; experts say it could be a model for future developments, including yours. Here are some next steps:

• Getting Started: The Wildpoldsried vision was big, but it started small, with a vision that inspired residents to get involved; remember, the initial windpower investments there were privately conceived and initiated. This is similar to the innovation district strategies employed in Boston and Research Triangle: Paint the vision, but allow stakeholders to define their roles and make things happen.
• More Research: Have a look at the original article on Wildpoldsried, which includes significant data on each element of the town’s innovative sustainability program.
• Field Trip! If you’ve got the time and budget, you can hop a plane and get a tour of Wildpoldsried’s infrastructure. Contact Christie Allen, who has written on Wildpoldsried, works for the biogas vendor there, and volunteers to give energy tours in English. Mayor Arno Zengerle has also given tours and spoken extensively on Wildpoldsried’s accomplishments.
• Ongoing Coverage: Of course, Gov1 will continue to track energy and sustainability issues for readers every week.