Of the nearly €295 million in public funding for energy transition investments, only €1.7 million has been allocated to wind power in the past six years, and less than €1 million has been allocated to geothermal energy, which the state government also likes to praise. In contrast, €191 million, the largest share, went to hydrogen projects. This follows from a response to a request from the Ministry of Economic Affairs of greens in the Bavarian state parliament, available to the German Press Agency in Munich. The Free State invested the remaining almost €102 million in solar projects, most of which was in a battery storage program that has long since been discontinued.
“This one-sided orientation of the Bavarian funding policy shows the wrong path of the Soder-Ivanger government in the energy transition. When it comes to geothermal energy, it is destructive. no euro since the end of 2018,” said Martin Stumpfig, energy policy spokesman for the Greens state parliament. This is important for climate-friendly heat supply. “And there’s almost no support from the state government for wind power either.”
Hydrogen without wind turbines
When it comes to money for hydrogen projects, such as hydrogen charging stations or electrolyzers, Stümpfig does not criticize the overall financing, but the fact that in many projects the use of renewable electricity was not a prerequisite for financing; “At the same time. , hundreds of millions are being spent on the production and use of hydrogen, while the wind turbines needed to produce that hydrogen cannot be built.”
According to Stümpfig, the federal government is showing how it can work to actively promote geothermal energy. Geothermal energy projects in Grünwald and Pullach recently received €60 million in funding. “In contrast, the five million euros that the state government wants to invest in raising this Bavarian treasure is truly laughable,” Stumpfig said. Overall, the state government is investing too little in renewables; €295.3 million over the last six years compares to around €500 million in road construction in the 2024/2025 budget alone.