Pellworm, Germany – 100% Renewable Energy Atlas

Target: 100% renewable electricity
Status: Achieved
RES: Wind power, solar farm.
Implementation: Pellworm is the third largest North Frisian island and relies on tourism and agriculture. About 50 farms engage in livestock. 70 percent of the land is used as grassland . A 28 km long and eight meter-high dyke protects the island from the North Sea. For more than 30 years, the island of Pellworm has been a pioneer in the renewable energy field. At the end of the 70s, the first small wind-energy systems were tested here. After 1983, a 300 kW solar power station appeared, complemented by three 25 kW wind-energy units. The electricity produced was used to supply a health resort. Since then, the plant has been upgraded and enlarged several times and today it serves the E.ON group for the testing of ‘smart grids’ and modern storage technologies. In the second half of the 90s, the Association of Ecological Economies, the Municipality and the electricity provider Schleswag set up an energy concept that enabled Pellworm to become energy self-sufficient. A public wind-park company was founded in order to use electricity production as a source of income. The municipality opened an energy office. A biogas assessment led to the installation of a public biogas unit, local heating from which supplies the health centre. A round-table meeting brought together all operators and parties interested and involved in the energy sector and initiated further development of the energy concept.
Population: 1,136 (2016)
Area: 37.44 km² (14.46 sq mi)
Link: Smartregion Pellworm