Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder visit a geothermal project in Geretsried – and exchange ideas about energy.
Geretsried – When Scholz and Söder climb into the derrick together, the sun is no longer at its zenith – and yet it burns relentlessly. It’s a hot Thursday afternoon in a forest near the small town of Geretsried in the south of Munich. The Canadian company Eavor is digging for the energy of the future here using an advanced process. And since Germany is worried about both – energy and the future – the political professionals are only too happy to adorn themselves with the pioneering project.
It is also an attractive encounter for observers. Markus Söder (CSU), Prime Minister of Bavaria, is currently campaigning for the state elections in Bavaria and has been working on the traffic light coalition in Berlin for weeks. Olaf Scholz (SPD), Chancellor of Germany, also has a lot to fight with this hopelessly divided coalition – only that he is its boss. And now they are standing here together, wearing construction helmets and having nice pictures taken.
Election campaign in Bavaria: Markus Söder and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the marquee
After the derrick comes the marquee, currently something like Söder’s second living room – he wants to have spoken in more than 100 beer tents by the election on October 8th. And even if it is presumably more dignified here in front of a selected audience than at the Mühldorf festival, where he also performs in the evening, the Franconian attaches great importance to the right messages during the election campaign. To be on the safe side, Bavaria’s head of state gives the Canadian hosts a message. “We are an innovative country – and so is Germany, of course.”
Meanwhile, Scholz has taken a seat in the front row – and Söder calculates with the chancellor: As far as renewable energies are concerned, Bavaria is number two overall after Lower Saxony – and even number one in terms of installed capacity and expansion. At the forefront in photovoltaics, hydropower, biomass and geothermal energy. And even with wind, the Free State is still number eight. This shows that Bavaria is getting involved and making its contribution to the energy transition. That’s another reason why: “We don’t want any electricity price zones that are different in Germany,” says Söder.
What is meant is the initiative by the Federal Network Agency to redistribute the network charges in Germany. If this were to happen, households in regions with little wind power (like many in Bavaria) would probably pay more for electricity, and others in wind power strongholds in the north, less, as is often the case today. Söder recently described the supporters of such plans as “gravediggers of southern German industry” – and Olaf Scholz is one of them.
Scholz in Geretsried: Chancellor makes one sit up and take notice
In his speech, Söder now links possible wage increases in the Free State with the state financial equalization. “We are the only federal state that pays ten billion euros a year to other federal states,” he says. Outside the tent, he had already complained to journalists that in Germany “they only talk about wind” – and brought up the financial equalization of the federal states. If he were hired – “then we can talk”. But “one-sided scenarios” are “not appropriate”.
Anyone hoping for a reply from the chancellor will be disappointed. According to the event schedule, he has three minutes more speaking time than Söder, but sticks to his script in a typically calm manner. Scholz praises the “technical masterpiece” for a project that is “right and important”. He also wishes “great success” – i.e. the geothermal drills, not Söder.
On the other hand, a rather casual statement by the Chancellor, which is almost lost in the soberness of his speech, makes one sit up and take notice. Because in the midst of the ongoing discussion about a discounted industrial electricity price, Scholz also emphasizes the importance of inexpensive energy for the economy. “All investors are interested in whether there is enough affordable energy available locally,” he said on Thursday. Unlike other SPD politicians, he recently expressed skepticism about a special electricity tariff for certain companies, even describing such a project as a “debt-financed flash in the pan that will fuel inflation again”. Possible background: The SPD parliamentary group is about to vote on this question.
#Delightful #summit #meeting #derrick