Your path to energy independence

A bioenergy village aims to convert the majority of its heat and electricity supply to renewable energies. It covers at least 50% of its energy needs from regionally produced bioenergy. Citizens are involved in decision-making processes and actively carry the idea of the bioenergy village forward. The bioenergy installations are at least partly owned by the consumers, farmers or foresters on site.

The federal government supports both the expansion of local heating networks with renewable energies and expansion based on combined heat and power technology. In addition, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate promotes local heating networks with investment incentives through its future-proof energy infrastructure funding program (ZEIS). Furthermore, a promotional loan for renewable energies premium with a repayment bonus for heat can be applied for at the KfW bank.

Depending on the energy mix, security of supply is ensured by several installations that complement or substitute one another. As a rule, a very large buffer storage is also present. This provides a very high degree of failure safety, significantly higher than with a single oil boiler in a private household, which normally has no replacement. In addition, an emergency service is on call for faults.

To assess feasibility, a feasibility study is commissioned with an engineering firm. Its purpose is to verify the technical and in particular the economic viability of the project. To finance the feasibility study, public funds are raised along with a small personal contribution, for example 100 to 200 euros per household ready to be connected.

If a feasibility study shows positive results, working groups must be formed within the municipality. One of them deals with founding a preparatory company, which prepares the later operating company that will eventually run the bioenergy installations. It drafts preliminary contracts for heat customers and preliminary supply contracts for farmers and foresters, presents them at a shareholders’ meeting and has them adopted. Once adopted, a preliminary planning study is commissioned to ensure that the prices set for heat customers are really achievable. If they are, the implementation phase begins.

The operating company commissions a competent engineering firm with the design and execution planning. The design planning establishes the technical basis for the approval application. Whether the prepared building application is submitted is decided by the full assembly of the operating company. The execution planning contains the documents for tendering the network and plant construction. Once approvals have been granted and financing is in place, the construction work can be tendered. To reduce complexity and warranty issues, cooperation with a general contractor is recommended.