Community Energy Planning Paying Off in Germany

"The town of Freiamt (Germany) generates its entire electricity needs from locally owned renewable sources, and then sells a 30 per cent surplus to generate revenue. For the last five years, Freiamt has been pursuing the goal of total energy self-sufficiency. While the strategy is still young, it is clearly working.

Proving that 'small is beautiful,' Freiamt generates so much power from its small-scale renewable sources that it is turning an annual profit. It did so by adding four wind turbines and 800 rooftop photovoltaic systems to its existing small-scale hydro and biomass installations.

The Freiamt story is as much about 'power' as energy. Although much of the technical expertise and all of the equipment comes from outside Freiamt, the citizens were adamant that they wanted to own their future, by owning and controlling the turbines and the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal installations.

As long as the sun shines, the wind blows and the grass grows, Freiamt will be making energy and selling it at a profit. That is resilience."