Electricity from solar power, generated and consumed in your own community – what many local politicians dream of in view of the global political situation could soon come true in Garching. The open-space photovoltaic system to the west of the A 9 motorway has cleared another hurdle. In its last meeting before the summer break, the city council unanimously approved the development plan for the project. The discrepancies about the size of the area between the city and the cooperative “Bürgerenergie Garching” (BEG), which will operate the system, have been cleared up.
The BEG should now be allowed to set up its solar panels on around 3.2 hectares of urban land not far from the Garching-Nord motorway junction. The municipality leases the majority of the area to the citizens’ cooperative for a period of 15 years. There had been a dispute about the area intended for the future expansion of the new building yard, which of course has not yet been built. Some were very reluctant to give up this area; agreement was now reached on a lease for at least five years, with the option of an annual extension. The BEG considers the total area to be large enough to put the project into practice profitably.
A company from Hochbrück would allegedly purchase all of the electricity
The aim is to set up the solar park between the motorway and the Garchinger Sportpark by next autumn at the latest, so that the system can go into operation in winter 2023, explains Christian Nolte, who heads the BEG together with Dominik Eberle. Nolte and Eberle founded the cooperative in April 2021 together with fellow campaigners and have already won numerous members for their concern to generate energy sustainably and locally. Russia’s attack on Ukraine and its economic and energy policy effects give the project a boost.
Interest is not only great on the part of potential comrades. According to the board of directors, the cooperative has already found a corporate customer from Hochbrück who would purchase all of the electricity generated. Until then, however, the BEG still has a number of tasks ahead of it. One of them is to find suitable compensation areas for the project, including for the skylark, which is widespread in Garching. Lease and demolition conditions are laid down in a contract with the city. There are also imponderables in terms of the cost of the solar system – the war is driving up material and construction costs.
Nonetheless, Nolte is optimistic. “This is our big chance now, everyone wants this power now,” he says. In autumn, the BEG wants to win more members at an information event.