Region of Lake Constance, Germany - 2000

 

Domain of application: Regional

Status: Existing

The region of Lake Constance is located in the northern foot of the Alps in Germany and has a population of 565,000. In 2000, local citizens founded a private company called solarcomplex AG, which designs, builds, operates, and finances renewable electricity and heat projects. 

 

"Solarcomplex" began with 20 shareholders and 37,500 euros in equity capital. Today more than 760 shareholders share an equity capital of more than 5.7 million euros and have invested more than 90 million euros in renewable energy projects for electricity and heat supply in the Lake Constance region.   

 

Renewable energy projects so far include:

 

10MW rooftop solar

10MW solar parks

 

The first citizen-funded biogas plant in the state Baden-Württemberg, where part of Lake Constance is located, was built in the town of Überlingen. It produces approximately 2.5 million kWh a year, along with waste heat that is piped to a local recreational facility, which replaces approximately 25,000 liters of fuel oil annually. 

 

An old hydroelectric station was reactivated, adding a fish ladder to protect aquatic life. The project generates enough energy for more than 200 housholds.

 

Large wood energy plants based on wood pellets or wood chips generate approximately 9 MWth (megawatt thermal) annually. A pilot project has been created on 7 acres to sustainably grow wood for fuel.

 

8 towns  provide all of their energy needs from local renewable energy sources, such as biogas power and heat, woody biomass, a district heating grid, and photovoltaics. More towns are in progress.