- Target: 100% renewable energy
- Status: Achieved
- RES: A solar photovoltaics farm, a biogas plant, a cogeneration plant and a district heating network.
- Implementation: In the small Bavarian village of Großbardorf, local citizens invested and raised outside capital worth $19 million over four years to develop rooftop and larger scale solar systems, along with a biogas plant that feeds both a combined heat and power (CHP) plant and a district heating network. Combined, the projects generate 400% of the electricity the village’ needs and 50% of its heating demand. Großbardorf is considering expanding to new business opportunities that rely on its advanced heating network. One example is local fish farming tanks that use heat from the biogas plants to heat the water. Its citizens have also participated in Großbardorf's energy efforts in other ways. The community for example decided to invest in solar panels for the new roof of the town’s football stadium in exchange for season tickets to games. The income from the electricity produced by the solar panels would pay off the expense of the new roof. The village's renewable energy success would not have been possible without the Renewable Sources Act (EEG), the German feed-in tariff (FIT). The law guarantees interconnection of renewables into the grid, payment of any needed grid upgrades by the utilities, and adequate, long term payment to renewable power generators for any electricity they feed in to the grid.
- Population: 889 (2017)
- Area: 16.54 km2 (6.39 sq mi)
- Link: Energie-Kommune des Monats: Gemeinde Großbardorf
- In German