The area next to Heine Optik is too small for a power plant to be built, and the district wants to buy the surrounding areas.
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
First the location for a new grammar school, now for a new hospital: A meadow on the edge of Herrsching was already under discussion for various uses, including a geothermal system. But nothing will come of this on the property on Seefelder Straße. Josef and Sophie Birner, who own an area of almost 4,000 square meters there and who have big plans to use geothermal energy, are looking for a new location in a strip between Lake Ammersee and Lake Starnberg. Therefore, there are delays in the implementation of your project.
At the end of October it became known that the Starnberg District Administrator Stefan Frey (CSU) was already conducting very specific property negotiations. This covers an area of 8,000 square meters. Together with a further 18,000 square meters owned by the Herrsching community, that would be enough to build a new clinic for the western district. The Birners own almost 4,000 square meters there. The district administration approved the construction of a geothermal power plant ten years ago, explains Sophie Birner, who is responsible for public relations for her father Josef Birner, who is the managing director.
Managing director Josef Birner needs a new place for his geothermal project.
(Photo: private)
The current clinic plans would get in the way of the geothermal project, but it did not fail, she emphasizes. The 65-year-old Josef Birner initially wants to generate electricity for 9,000 households and heat for 1,500 households from hot thermal water. For almost a year now, the process engineer, who worked at Agfa, Bayer and BASF and is now renting out holiday apartments, has had mining law approval from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The field right for geothermal energy Ammersee, which was secured for the first time in 2005, for the exploration of geothermal energy covers several thousand square meters, according to him. Investigations showed that an area that geologists call “Münchner Verwurf” would be well suited for the use of heat from the depths. The location search extends to an area on the axis between Herrsching, Frieding, Andechs, Unering, Hadorf and Starnberg. Deep geothermal energy is a privileged construction project and should therefore also be implemented on agricultural land, on wooded areas and areas in the outdoor area. An area the size of one hectare would initially be required for planning and execution; that’s 10,000 square meters.
Sophie Birner takes on the public relations work for her father, who is the managing director.
(Photo: private / oh)
The 4,000 square meters on Seefelder Strasse, which are directly adjacent to the Heine Optik company premises, are therefore not enough. And the district wants the neighboring properties. There were negotiations with District Administrator Frey. Sophie Birner could even imagine a cooperation in which heat, cold and electricity are supplied to the hospital from below. “We see great potential here,” she says. She suggested to the planning association for the outer economic area to include the C0₂-free energy supply for a hospital in the choice of location.
Despite all the obstacles, there is great interest in the project, according to the Birners. There are “a large number of expressions of interest”, not only in the district, but also from France, the USA and other countries. The crowdfunding for financing, which should actually already begin, had to be stopped because of the new planning for the site on the outskirts. “Ammersee Geothermie” has already invested a “large sum”, but no information is currently given about the exact amount of this expenditure.