How Ecological Are Small Hydropower Plants?

Climate minister Hebek no longer wants to support small hydroelectric power plants, operators feel pillaged. For them it is a piece of cultural history and family tradition.

KLean Hydropower – The term itself sounds so sweet and natural that you can’t really do anything against it, right? His friends in Bavaria include CSU boss Marcus Söder and his deputy in the state government, Hubert Avanger from the Free Voters. Both have not lost any opportunity to commit to small hydropower lately, which is particularly important for Bavaria. Reason: Green Climate Minister’s Project Robert HabeckThe Renewable Energy Sources Act is no longer promoting this form of electricity generation through EEG.

On the other hand, representatives of smaller hydropower are also mobilizing, such as those in the Association of Hydropower Plants. Bavaria, Its president Fritz Schweiger, along with his cousin Franz Schweiger, runs several smaller plants, four of them in Oberding, a community bordering the Erdinger Moose. When we go there, Schweiger immediately makes it clear that small-scale hydropower is a highly complex matter. Everything is connected to everything. However, in the end, he will give “the whole puzzle”. You will see that “what is happening with hydropower at present is not quite right”.