In a statement on Thursday, Kerstin Schreyer (CSU), member of the state parliament from Unterhaching, rated it a success for politicians in Bavaria and in particular for the CSU that the federal government changed course at the last moment when it came to promoting hydropower. In the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) passed in the Bundestag on Thursday, hydropower is classified as being of “overriding public interest”, contrary to previous plans. Small hydropower plants with an output of up to 500 kilowatts will also continue to be funded.
During a recent visit to the Kraemermühle in Graefelfing, where the community wants to upgrade the plant, Schreyer described a downgrading of hydropower as “wrong”. In Ismaning, where one also sees potential in small plants, Mayor Alexander Greulich (SPD) spoke of a “prime example” of how the energy transition would be slowed down. There have been protests against the plans in Berlin, especially from Bavaria, where 60 percent of the hydropower plants in Germany are operated.
Schreyer tweeted that “our efforts at all political levels over the past few weeks have paid off.” This is also an important success story “for the many hydropower family businesses in Bavaria”. The FDP member of parliament and general secretary of the Bavarian FDP Lukas Koehler explained that “at the instigation of the FDP” hydropower is now being strengthened. Environmental organizations such as the WWF had put pressure on them to stop supporting small hydropower plants because they were of little use in generating electricity but massively impacted the ecosystems in rivers.
The IHK also reacted with relief. “Especially the smaller hydroelectric power plants in Bavaria produce environmentally friendly electricity close to the consumer and directly in the region. They are a guarantee for the regional security of supply in the Free State,” says their general manager in Bavaria, Manfred Gößl.