Munich (dpa/lby) – With the help of a basic agreement signed on Tuesday, Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) wants to accelerate the expansion of solar and other renewable energies in Bavaria. In essence, it is a question of better coordinating those involved in order to make it easier to connect the systems to the grid, said the minister. In addition to Aiwanger, the signatories to the memorandum of understanding include the Bayernwerk and other network operators, district and municipal councils, the farmers’ association and the Federal Association of the Solar Industry.
As a negative example, Aiwanger cited the situation where someone was building a five-hectare solar farm. But when he tried to connect it to the grid, he was told that the grid was overloaded and that he would have to wait two years. With the better coordination that is now being sought, either the grid can be expanded more quickly in the future, the park can be built at a different location where the grid has capacity, or, for example, an electrolyser can be set up to absorb the electricity and thus relieve the grid.
A lot of things are currently taking too long, said Bayernwerk boss Egon Westphal. For example, you need 40 weeks for a substation – but you have to build 500 throughout Bavaria. Because without a substation, the most beautiful solar field is useless.
