The Bavarian economy has asked the state government to massively accelerate the energy transition. “We are clearly committed to the Bavarian Climate Protection Act and the obligation for the state to become climate-neutral by 2040,” said Bertram Brossardt, Managing Director of the Association of Bavarian Business (VBW), on Wednesday in Munich. “To achieve it, one thing is needed above all: speed, speed, speed – in all areas of the energy transition.”
Specifically, Brossardt called for the massive expansion of renewable energies, especially photovoltaics and wind power, the modernization of both the national and regional network, the development of a hydrogen infrastructure and a guaranteed industrial electricity price of no more than four cents per kilowatt hour. Otherwise, according to Brossardt, Bavaria as an industrial location and thus the prosperity in this country cannot be maintained.
In their demands, the economy relies on the “Bavarian Energy Plan 2040”, which the Research Center for Energy Economics (FfE) created for the energy suppliers in Bavaria. The study, which is massive criticism of the state government’s policies to date, makes it clear how enormous the challenges are that the Free State is facing.
An example of the conversion of the power supply: According to the FfE, two wind turbines per week must now be connected to the grid so that the Bavarian climate protection goals can become reality. Seen over the year, that’s more than 100 systems – starting immediately. Only 14 wind turbines were put into operation in Bavaria in 2022, and there are unlikely to be many more this year. By mid-March, not a single new wind turbine had been approved in Bavaria. And this despite the fact that the state government has given up its long-standing anti-wind power course.
The challenges in the other sectors of the energy transition are no less daunting. Here, too, just one example, namely for the traffic turnaround: From now on, at least 5100 drivers in Bavaria would have to switch from petrol or diesel to climate-neutral cars, according to the FfE researchers, especially to electric drives, since synthetic fuels will not be available in sufficient quantities in the foreseeable future quantities are available. Such registration numbers are a long way off, even if there are more and more e-cars on the roads. Because most recently, two-thirds of new registrations with e-plates were so-called hybrids, a combination of e- and conventional drives.
In addition to all the expansions and conversions of the energy system, VBW man Brossardt also believes that there is something else that is particularly important. “We need a secure basis for planning,” he said in the direction of the state government. The back and forth of the past must not continue.