In 2012, the State Center for Renewable Energy was opened in Neustrelitz. The energy crisis shows how important the work for the expansion of renewable energies is, it was said at the anniversary.
Neustrelitz (dpa/mv) - The operators of the State Center for Renewable Energy (Leea) in Neustrelitz (Mecklenburg Lake District) have called for significantly faster approval procedures for the expansion of ecological energy. "We don't just need something like this for gas supply via LNG terminals," said the managing director of Leea GmbH and the Neustrelitzer Stadtwerke, Frank Schmetzke, on Wednesday with a view to the current energy crisis. The acceleration of such approval procedures has long been politically neglected.
Without more renewable energies, there will only be a "high-priced energy supply such as LNG gas" in Germany in the future. Such LNG gas contracts would not only be concluded for one year, said Schmetzke, who spoke in front of around 100 guests on the tenth anniversary of the center. The gas and energy crisis shows that the work of the State Eco Center in Neustrelitz is becoming even more important.
For the Neustrelitzer Stadtwerke, which financially support the state center, the gas crisis currently has hardly any effects, said the managing director. The energy generator for electricity and heat in the city of 21,000 is a biomass heating plant that processes wood chips. The price of wood is also rising, but by no means as much as that of gas, said Schmetzke.
The Landes-Öko-Zentrum was founded in 2012 and has 13 employees. Since then, a total of around 104,000 visitors have come to the futuristic new building on Bundesstraße 96, which is largely self-sufficient in energy. There, information and knowledge transfer on renewable energies is bundled, companies are networked and the latest technological developments are presented. There are also training courses for companies and conferences on all aspects of eco-energies.
"We have to create a visual object for people to see how eco-energy can work," said State Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) in recognition of Leea's work. He warned that biogas plants should also be included more in political considerations.
According to the Stadtwerke, the operation of the Landes-Öko-Zentrum costs around 500,000 euros a year. The state energy and climate protection agency MV (Leka) also controls several projects from Neustrelitz. The new building, which once cost 3.4 million euros, stands next to the biomass heating plant. In 2022, around 9,000 visitors have come so far. A new exhibition on ecological building was also opened on Wednesday.
