2,233 photovoltaic systems in operation How the City of Bonn wants to become climate neutral
Bonn · By 2035, the city of Bonn wants to be able to present a balanced greenhouse gas balance. This will not be possible without the help of Bonn's citizens.
Living climate-neutrally as a resident of Bullerbü is comparatively easy. You buy a photovoltaic system for the roof that covers your electricity needs, insulate the courtyard windows properly, connect the house to the Swedish district heating network, and cycle to school instead of taking the diesel Volvo. If the balance still doesn't add up, an extra fruit tree or two in the garden might do the trick. But how can a city, how can Bonn become climate-neutral in the course of the next few years?
- This is the goal: the city of Bonn wants to become climate neutral by 2035 at the latest. To achieve this, efforts are needed in several respects. The expansion of renewable energies such as photovoltaics would have to advance, and the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) would have to increase its share of this form of energy in the electricity mix. From 2035 onwards, it should no longer be possible to buy new cars with fossil fuels in shops throughout the EU. This requires a nationwide charging infrastructure. A key point: energy consumption, which has hardly declined, should decrease.
- This is how it should be done: When it comes to photovoltaic expansion, the new council coalition has already initiated a number of decisions. These include compulsory PV installations in all new buildings where the city is involved as a contractual partner, including projects where project-related development plans are necessary. The photovoltaic support programme and the "Solar Bonn" expansion initiative are aimed at increasing the interest of both private individuals and businesses in such installations. The costs for the expansion initiative, which is linked to an advisory campaign, together with the municipal utilities, amount to 2.7 million Euro. The municipality assumes that only about two percent of the roofs suitable for solar plants are currently being used. The potential is considerable. If it were fully exploited, half of all households could be supplied with solar power. Even the old Jamaica coalition decided that the municipal utility (SWB) should increasingly place PV systems on municipal roofs in order to be able to provide a greener electricity mix.
SWB wants to gradually increase the number of e-charging stations to 500 over the next three years.
Last year, the council alliance also decided to build new buildings (and comprehensive refurbishment projects) in the public sector, such as kindergartens, schools or fire stations, to the KfW 40 standard. This building standard uses 40 percent less energy than an ordinary property. The investment costs are significantly higher. The head of the municipal building management, Lutz Leide, had told the GA that it depends on the individual case whether the construction costs could ultimately be offset by the energy savings.
The traffic turnaround, which has been examined from various angles in separate episodes of this GA series, is also an important building block. The city and the council alliance want to increase the share of these modes of transport from about 60 percent today to 75 percent in 2030 by expanding pedestrian, bicycle and local transport infrastructure. SWB wants to have replaced its old diesel buses with e-buses by 2035. From 2024, only e-buses will be purchased. A maximum of 40 e-buses is expected by 2027. By this time, SWB want to convert the Friesdorf depot so that the basis for the fleet change is in place. Total costs for buses, new construction, charging infrastructure: around 200 million Euro.
Since last year, the climate protection department has been part of the office of Lord Mayor Katja Dörner. The programme office "Climate Neutral Bonn 2035" is being staffed. The new management is due to take up its duties in May. All administrative offices are to take greater account of the climate goals in their work.
- This is the current status: The Council passed the solar funding guidelines in June last year. The programme is financed from municipal funds and started with the release of the municipal budget on 13 September 2021. "As of 25 March, 443 applications have been received," Markus Schmitz from the Bonn press office informed. 410 systems had gone into operation, and the city had promised funding of around 650,000 Euro. In Bonn, a total of 2,233 PV systems are in operation, producing a total of 24.8 million kilowatt hours per year. Since an average household consumes about 1,300 kilowatt hours per year, 19,000 of the 175,340 households can be supplied with electricity. There is no concrete construction target for this council period.
- SWB says that between 1998 and 2019, it operated 43 systems on municipal roofs that produced 290 000 kilowatt hours. In 2020, six have been added with 180,000 kilowatt hours. "Currently, 13 systems are being built on the roofs of day-care centres and schools, which will generate 550,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year in the future," said Stefanie Zießnitz from SWB. Other buildings are currently being tested for suitability. The share of renewable energies in SWB's total electricity mix is 82 percent through additional purchases. When asked whether the exit from the participation in the Lünen coal-fired power plant sought by the council alliance would still take place during this council period, SWB gave an evasive answer. The Ukraine war has changed the "highly fragile situation" on the energy market. Within the "framework of the climate neutrality target", they are pursuing the phase-out. As far as the charging infrastructure is concerned, electric vehicles can currently tap exclusively green electricity at 180 charging points. The first public charging station was launched in 2016. At the beginning of 2021, the number was at one hundred charging points. It is being considered to use the lampposts, which are supplied with electricity anyway, as "filling stations" in the next few years.
- What the critics say: In essence, there is hardly any political resistance to the goals of climate neutrality. The resolution passed in the previous council period to declare a climate emergency combined with more speed in implementing climate protection measures was approved by almost all council members. In detail, however, there is broader criticism of the plans and especially of the financing. The CDU and FDP, for example, do not think it makes sense to build every municipal building to the KfW 40 standard, as often as - for example in schools - the doors opened and closed. In their view, the money could be better spent elsewhere on climate protection.
That is the conclusion so far: the council alliance has brought some resolutions to the table. The effects of the solar obligation for new buildings are not yet foreseeable. The goal of climate neutrality within the city administration by 2030, which was set by Mayor Dörner before her election, could not be realised. The implementation by 2035 will not work without the participation of the citizens.
Original text: Philipp Königs
Translation: Mareike Graepel
