With geothermal energy, the municipal works in Oberhaching now see themselves on the right track. Now the focus should be more on generating electricity from photovoltaics in order to create the energy transition together with the citizens. In the autumn, the municipal council decided to enable the first open-air system on the Pöttinger Feld near the junction with the A 995. It is a foregone conclusion that solar modules will be installed on the new campus with a junior high school and a technical college at the Deisenhofen train station. So that citizens can invest in solar energy at all, the municipal council created the legal framework for this on Tuesday evening and unanimously voted in favor of founding a project company.
This Energiewerke GmbH & Co. KG is intended to market and sell the electrical energy generated in PV systems and to acquire, hold and manage such systems itself. “With the project company, we want to ensure that the municipal utilities have the say in the long term,” emphasized Sascha Bucklitsch, one of the two managing directors of the municipal utilities and responsible for the new company. One hundred percent of the electricity generated is supplied to the municipal utilities and thus remains in the village.
Now that the company has been founded, concrete projects can be discussed. Apparently, some systems on roofs in town are already being planned. Bucklitsch spoke at the municipal council meeting of an “investment backlog for six months.” According to the Oberhaching town hall administration, there have already been intensive discussions with Bürgerenergie Unterhaching about participation models.
The various divisions are to be separated in order to spread the risk
The new project company initially only relates to solar energy. However, Oberhaching does not want to lose sight of wind power and electricity generation through geothermal energy. Especially when it comes to wind power, Mayor Stefan Schelle (CSU) sees “a lot of movement” in terms of permits. So one wants to quickly include this form of regenerative power generation on site in the social construct of the municipal utilities, albeit as another separate building block in the form of a wind project company. This is to reduce the risk that all areas would be affected if one is performing poorly. First of all, there is no talk of generating electricity from geothermal energy. SPD local councilor Erwin Knapek, who had bad experiences with it many years ago as mayor in Unterhaching, currently advises against it.
With district heating, Oberhaching now sees “light on the horizon”, as the auditors confirmed at the municipal council meeting based on the 2021 annual financial statements. However, they also warned against now coming up with the idea of reducing district heating prices. “There is still no reason to celebrate,” said Mayor Schelle, who reported a “suddenly” increased demand for geothermal connections. According to Schelle, the partnership agreement in Taufkirchen, where the hot deep groundwater is pumped upwards, is signed and the conversion of the thermal circuit began in autumn. “This will enable a third and fourth well because we need even more heat,” said Schelle. Most recently there had been legal disputes with the co-owners of geothermal energy. The Oberhaching municipal works have a 26 percent stake in the operating company Geo-Energie Taufkirchen.