The path to climate neutrality could be faster

Joachim Weber, Mayor of the Konz Association of Municipalities, described the network that met on Thursday in the Roscheider Hof in Konz for a conference as a “pioneer network”. This network, consisting of nine municipal sewage works in the Eifel/Moselle/Hunsrück region, has set up an extensive program to convert the energy supply in recent years and implemented significant steps towards energy saving and climate neutrality.

Photo: The participants of the network conference of municipal sewage works in the Eifel/Mosel/Hunsrück region in the Roscheider Hof, Konz

At the conference some results of the network activities were presented. In Bitburg, for example, the sewage treatment plant has been equipped with new technology to save energy. Photovoltaic systems at sewage treatment plants in Ulmen and Konz produce electricity and potential studies for other photovoltaic areas, for example in Prüm, are ongoing.

But things don't always go smoothly. That became clear when the common position paper was presented. Because: the project implementation always comes up against its limits.

The legal framework and funding programs aim to support planned projects. In practice, however, they slow down implementation in many places. Some of the plant managers, engineers and mayors expressed themselves very emotionally on topics such as extremely long processing times for funding applications, feasibility studies that were too short and procurement law that was often far too complex.

For example, it took 18 months to get funding for a project in Konz that will in future help ensure that the administration building of the associated municipality is supplied with heat and electricity from the sewage treatment plant in a climate-neutral manner. The panel discussion made it clear that the combination of long processing times, the short period of validity of the studies and the complex procurement law often gives the actors at municipal level the feeling that obstacles are being placed in their way on the way to the energy transition. Something has to change about that.

The DWA association, which is committed to sustainable water management and the promotion of research and development and has been in charge of the network in recent years, had invited to the network conference. In addition to the local actors, representatives of associations, members of the Bundestag and also the members of the state parliament from the participating municipalities were invited. However, no representative of the state parliament accepted the invitation, which was criticized from many sides during the course of the event.

The position paper the DWA and the network of sewage companies were nevertheless able to give some participants advice - in the hope that the proposed solutions contained therein will be taken into account at federal and state level.

Information on the "pioneer network"

As part of the national climate protection initiative of the federal government, nine municipal sewage works came together to form an energy and resource efficiency network in 2019 and founded it at the DWA state association Hesse/Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland. The goal: to shape the path to climate neutrality together.

The members of the network of the climate protection initiative (KSI) are:

• Sewage works of the municipality of Schweich
• Waste water treatment plant of the municipality of Maifeld, Polch
• Verbandsgemeindenwerke Prüm,
• Verbandsgemeindewerke Kelberg
• Verbandsgemeindewerke Konz
• Sewage works of the Ulmen association of municipalities
• Sewage works of the municipality of Zell
• Stadtwerke Bitburg
• Südeifelwerke Irrel AöR

The DWA as a professional association in the water industry acts as administrator, project coordinator and network manager and assumes the client status vis-à-vis the service providers commissioned by the network.