The energy crisis also affects universities and students. The latter have to adjust to cooler lecture halls and higher dormitory rents.
Rostock (dpa/mv) - The energy crisis also affects the universities and colleges in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - and with it the almost 40,000 students there. Due to the skyrocketing prices, the facilities are faced with large increases in costs. At the University of Rostock, the temperature in lecture halls and offices should therefore be reduced by one degree in the coming winter, as a spokeswoman said at the request of the German Press Agency. This should save six percent of energy.
In Rostock, nobody believes that the heating could fail due to an energy shortage. "The Hanseatic and university city of Rostock and thus also the University of Rostock are well prepared for any supply interruptions in the gas supply," it said. There are three power plants that work with different energy sources, as well as an energy store. The winter semester is therefore being prepared as a face-to-face semester.
A reduction in room temperatures is also being discussed elsewhere, for example at the University of Greifswald and at the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences. According to spokesmen, decisions are still pending there. "Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences will do everything possible to maintain attendance for students as far as possible," emphasized the acting chancellor of the university, Gunnar Wessel.
A university in Bavaria recently informed its students that the 2022/2023 winter semester will be characterized by uncertainty with regard to the heat and power supply - and thus also to the question of whether and how face-to-face operations can be maintained.
The Wismar University of Applied Sciences said: "We are currently classified as end consumers who do not deserve protection, so it remains to be seen how the subject of gas supply will develop." Irrespective of this, the university has been optimizing its energy supply for a long time. In Wismar, for example, there is a pellet boiler and photovoltaic systems.
In the dormitories of the Rostock-Wismar student union, savings are also being sought, as spokeswoman Malena Wiechers said. Consideration is being given to turning down the temperature at night and in the hallways. An energy-saving campaign is intended to sensitize students. Nevertheless, the residents are facing higher costs: At the beginning of the winter semester, the price for a room, which now costs an average of 260 euros, is to rise by 10 euros. At the beginning of 2023, a further increase of 25 to 50 euros will probably have to be made. The Studierendenwerk expects additional costs of around 1.1 million euros in the coming year.
