Energy cooperatives in Bavaria: trend despite falling sales!

Energy cooperatives in Bavaria: trend despite falling sales!

Despite falling electricity prices and adverse weather conditions, energy cooperatives in Bavaria continue to record a remarkable influx. According to the Borkener Zeitung, there were a total of 346 energy cooperatives in Bavaria at the end of 2022, which corresponds to an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. This development shows that citizen participation and acceptance of such cooperatives remain high, as GVB President Stefan Müller emphasizes.

Overall, however, the energy cooperatives' sales fell by 30 million euros to 431 million euros. The reason for this is the cheaper electricity prices and the lower number of hours of sunshine, which influenced the generation of solar power. Nevertheless, interest in new forms of energy remains unbroken.

Diversity of energy cooperatives

In addition to the green electricity cooperatives, there are also heating cooperatives in Bavaria that use energy from biomass plants. The number of heating cooperatives increased from 143 in 2021 to 157 in 2022, once again reflecting the diversification in the energy sector. The cooperative structure enables not only the generation of electricity but also heat to play an important role in the energy transition.

The GVB acts as an umbrella organization for 1,044 cooperatives covering a wide range, including agricultural trading and dairy cooperatives. What is interesting is that 98 milk cooperatives recorded an increase in sales of 2.6% to around 4 billion euros in 2022 due to high milk and butter prices. Overall, the sales of Bavarian goods and service cooperatives rose by almost 3.2% to over 17 billion euros.

Future prospects for energy cooperatives

A recent cooperative dialogue, organized by the Federal Office of Energy Cooperatives and regional cooperative associations, brought together over 400 spectators. The aim of the event was to discuss the role of energy cooperatives in the run-up to the federal election. Numerous candidates from the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP, DIE LINKE and ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS took part, including the parties' energy policy spokespersons.

The discussions showed a consistent picture: energy cooperatives will play an important role in the German energy sector in the future. Thomas Bareiß from the CDU emphasized the need to strengthen the acceptance of local people in order to achieve higher expansion goals for renewable energies. Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter from the SPD, however, called for direct participation of citizens through energy cooperatives, which goes beyond the previous planning participation. Carsten Müller from the CDU advocated simplifying the planning and implementation of energy projects.

The developments in the energy cooperatives in Bavaria and the political discussions illustrate the important, now growing role of these institutions in the national energy system. Strengthening citizen participation could make a significant contribution to the energy transition not only in Bavaria, but throughout Germany.

Further information is available at Borken newspaper and that DGRV to find.