Saxony-Anhalt: New law promotes citizen participation in renewable energies!

Saxony-Anhalt: New law promotes citizen participation in renewable energies!

On September 16, 2025, Saxony-Anhalt introduced a pioneering law for the financial participation of municipalities in renewable energies. Loud Econews municipalities now receive 2,500 euros per megawatts (MW) photovoltaic performance and 5,500 euros per MW of wind power performance. The aim is to actively integrate the municipalities into the process of the energy transition and to offer them financial incentives.

The law is divided into two stages. In the first stage, a minimum participation of the affected communities is determined, which is based on the performance of the systems. The second stage offers the municipalities and plant operators the opportunity to develop alternative participation models. As part of their self -administration law, municipalities can negotiate the most sensible solution for them. These alternative models must be legally defined by law.

Citizen participation as the key to the energy transition

A current study shows that citizen participation can make a decisive contribution to accelerating the energy transition in Germany, except for the expansion of the power lines. This shows how important it is to promote the acceptance of the population for renewable energies. A central aspect here is the financial participation of the citizens in projects that are often organized by the regional development companies and municipal utilities.

As part of these initiatives, various guidelines for financial citizen participation in wind and solar parks have now gained importance. Loud Wind industry Germany the guidelines of EUCO were updated both in 2021 and 2023 to react to new requirements. These offer practical orientation towards financing models and are aimed at project sponsors, municipal utilities and municipalities.

Diverse participation models for communities

The guidelines also include new formats such as electricity bonus and resident electricity models. These approaches aim to promote the interests of interest between projects and municipalities and offer practicable as well as standardized opportunities for citizen participation. Over 450 realized citizen participations in the area of ​​renewable energies show that these models can be successfully used in practice.

Another example of successful citizen participation can be found as part of the Rewa research project. This investigation deals with the connection between value creation, participation and acceptance in several municipalities, whereby the intensity of the say in saying takes on different forms. Loud Infinite amount of energy Citizens can benefit from added value through various models, such as their own shares in projects or through indirect financial participations.

Both direct and indirect types of participation show concrete examples of how citizens can be integrated into the energy transition: In Schlöben, members of a “bioenergy village” benefit from free access to local heat and telecommunications networks. In Tuningen, EnBW Solar GmbH offers subordinated loans for a solar park, while in Lommatzsch citizens receive access to fixed interest rates via a DKB citizens' savings.

The expansion of financial participation models and the involvement of citizens in decision -making processes are essential for the acceptance and success of the energy transition. They enable communities to actively participate in change and to benefit from the advantages of renewable energies.