Renewable energies still have the disadvantage that the electricity they generate is difficult to store. In order to improve the situation, many operators of biogas plants are now rushing to do so. Erhard dietsch and helmut tittel also want to expand their plant near the dietersdorf district of vestenbergsgreuth and make it more flexible.
700,000 euros invested by the two in their plant. 350,000 euros will have to be spent on another 26-meter-diameter tank, which is required by the new dung ordinance. The rest is consumed primarily by a second engine, which is a prerequisite for the flexibilization of biogas plants that is, by the way, demanded by the state.
"We can then store electricity in the form of gas", says dietsch. If a lot of electricity is needed at peak times, the second engine is simply started up. When to switch on or off must be left to the energy supplier by remote control.
Biogas plants were previously designed for continuous electricity generation, because gas is also produced continuously. They are to be rescheduled and made more flexible in the future. Dietsch assumes that at some times both engines are running, or at night sometimes none at all.
Of the material fermented at the dietersdorf plant, 36 percent is gulle. The rest is corn and, more recently, wild plants grown for bees and insects that have to be harvested once a year.
The expansion plans of erhard dietsch and helmut tittel were also the subject of discussion in the vestenbergsgreuth town council on monday evening. The council unanimously gave its approval. "The municipal council had made itself known and refuted the arguments against the expansion, said mayor helmut lottes (CSU/UB).
A resident of dietersdorf filed a written objection to the expansion of the biogas plant. She had already tried with all her might in 2011 to prevent the construction, but she did not succeed. Now she is again calling for the building application to be rejected. If this should not happen, it kundigt "with gross probability legal consequences" to.
She justifies her objection, among other things, with the "immense danger", she believes that the biogas plants are a good investment for people, the climate and the environment. Climate-damaging gases and substances hazardous to water could escape from the plants, and highly inflammable gases could lead to accidents.
The opponent of the expansion states that there are already "massive and property value-reducing factors" to have an impact on your property in dietersdorf. As examples she mentions, among other things, the smell of the biogas plant, the "massive odor and larvae pollution caused by pig farming in the village" and the larvae load by agricultural machines. Here’s what she proposes to the farmers "once over the use of electromobility" to think about. Finally, the alarm from wind turbines 800 and 1100 meters away disturbs them.
After the unanimous approval in the community council, the approval procedure for the biogas plant expansion is now underway at the district office. As the FT learned, many preliminary talks have already been held with the operators there. According to the district administration, the flexibilization of biogas plants is fundamentally in the interest of environmental protection and is intended to provide energy when it is needed.