events

Chronicle of events

The kick-off event of the Saxon Energy Days took place on 5 April 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the site of the Nord combined heat and power plant (HKW) in Chemnitz. The Energy Days were opened by Energy Minister Dirk Panther. Environmental Mayor Knut Kunze was presented with the title "Energy Community of the Year" by Dr Robert Brandt, Managing Director of the Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien e. V. (Agency for Renewable Energies).

In addition to guided tours of the HKW site and the one battery storage facility, a wide range of free specialist presentations were offered. In addition, over 20 companies and initiatives presented their solutions at the Market of Opportunities. Around 350 participants learnt about renewable energies.

The kick-off event of the Saxon Energy Days was organised by the Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Energy and Climate Protection in close cooperation with eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co KG, Verbraucherzentrale Sachsen e. V. and the Environmental Office of the City of Chemnitz.

Around 90 entrepreneurs met on Tuesday, 21 January 2025 in the Solaristurm for the 3rd Chemnitz Energy Dialogue. The information and exchange format, which was organised by the Environmental Agency and the City of Chemnitz's Business Division in cooperation with the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts, eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co KG and Solaris Verwaltungs-GmbH, focused this year on heat supply in companies.

The decarbonisation of the heating sector is a key milestone on the way to achieving the 2040 target of climate neutrality for the European Capital of Culture 2025. The expansion of the grids is crucial for this. "The expansion of the electricity grids is one of the main challenges in implementing the energy transition. For Chemnitz alone, this potentially means the construction of two new substations as well as the new construction of around 950 kilometres of line infrastructure and more than 700 local grid stations," says the Managing Director of inetz GmbH, Mr Jörg Scheibe. The proportion of renewable heat in Chemnitz is currently around 7 per cent. A continuation of the energy dialogue is also planned for 2026. The event is aimed specifically at commercial enterprises in the Chemnitz region and serves to support the transformation goals of the city of Chemnitz.

The "Ready4NetZero" network met in Chemnitz on 6 and 7 November 2024. The network enables cities in Eastern European countries to easily transfer knowledge and thus supports them in developing and implementing local strategies to achieve climate neutrality. 29 city representatives from Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania completed various workshop and exchange formats and visited Chemnitz solutions on the way to greenhouse gas neutrality.

In addition to visiting the eins energie battery storage facility and the innovative LowEx district heating network at Brühl, the Eastern European city representatives also visited the Schlossbrauerei solar area of FASA AG and the sustainable heating concept of the "Zwergenhaus" kindergarten in Stelzendorf. Cycling was not neglected either: the cycling route along Schlossstraße and the Chemnitz Valley cycle path were visited.

The representatives were welcomed by the head of the City of Chemnitz's environmental department, Ms Carina Kühnel, and the city's energy team, which consists of a cross-section of the city administration, the environmental centre, representatives of the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), the Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts (HWK) and the energy supplier eins energie in sachen GmbH & Co KG (eins).

On the occasion of the Saxon Energy Days and the Renewable Energy Day on 27 April 2024, two guided tours of the eins battery storage facility were offered on 26 April 2024 in cooperation with eins energie in sachsen Gmbh & Co. A total of 30 Chemnitz citizens were able to take advantage of the fully booked offer.

The eins battery storage facility has a capacity of around four million R6/AA batteries (1.5 V/2.6 Ah) or 18,000 car starter batteries (12 V/74 Ah) and ensures regional electricity quality. This saves around 46,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, which would otherwise be produced in a conventional power plant. It is one of the largest plants of its kind in the whole of Saxony.

The second edition of the Chemnitz Energy Dialogue was held on 23 January 2024. This year, the event was held in the chamber hall of the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry andCommerce (IHK). The topics covered included questions on innovation and efficiency, current market and price developments in_{CO2 pricing}, legal innovations from the Energy Efficiency Act(EnEfG) and the Building Energy Act(GEG) as well as financial issues. Among others, the Managing Director of eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co KG(eins), Mr Roland Warner, presented the energy supplier's coal phase-out. "Avoiding 85 to 90 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 is realistic in Chemnitz. The last 10 to 15 per cent are associated with exponentially rising costs," said Mr Warner.

"The energy transition poses enormous challenges for the city of Chemnitz and regional companies. The energy dialogue is intended to help find technical solutions and strengthen regional value creation. Entrepreneurs can obtain information and exchange ideas free of charge. The aim is to develop an innovation cluster in Chemnitz," says the head of the Environment Agency, Ms Carina Kühnel.

The Chemnitz Energy Dialogue was organised by the Chemnitz Economy Division, the City of Chemnitz Environmental Office in cooperation with the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts(HWK) and eins. The 2nd energy dialogue was fully booked. A continuation of the dialogue is planned.

The presentation of the study on the hydrogen model region was held on 20 September 2023 in the Chamber Hall of the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The study "HyExperts Hydrogen Model Region Chemnitz" was commissioned by the city of Chemnitz together with HZwo e. V. and the region.

It is primarily concerned with the establishment of regional value chains for the production, transport, storage and provision of green hydrogen. The focus is on the mobility sector, whereby public passenger transport, heavy goods transport and special applications of _H2-powered vehicles such as waste disposal, agriculture, etc. as well as motorised private transport are considered.

It becomes clear that the Chemnitz region will be dependent on hydrogen imports and that a connection to the European hydrogen core network is necessary. "The next step will be to implement the short, medium and long-term goals and projects," says the Lord Mayor of the City of Chemnitz, Mr Sven Schulze. "Important for this are: Commitment, inventiveness, a functioning network and also investment in the public and private sector." The presentations on the content presented can be found under the following links.

The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs ( BMDV ).

From 5 June to 10 August 2023, the exhibition "The Price of Glass - Bird Strikes on Glass" was held in the foyer of Chemnitz Technical City Hall. The TU Dresden exhibition showed the dangers posed to birds by glass façades and presented possible solutions. "Birds cannot perceive glass panes and want to fly through glass because they might see vegetation. On the other hand, vegetation is reflected in the glass, so the birds think they are flying into a tree," said Jens Börner, Head of Department at the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of the Environmental Agency, in an interview with Sachsenfernsehen on the possible causes of bird strikes on glass façades.

On 6 June 2023, an information event on flood protection on the Würschnitz took place at the Krystallpalast Klaffenbach, jointly hosted by the Klaffenbach local council, Mr Stoppke, the Mayor for Legal Affairs, Safety and Environmental Protection, Mr Kunze, and the Environmental Agency. Around 45 residents of Chemnitz listened to presentations on the implementation of flood protection measures, the current state of the art for predicting flood risks, the possibilities of flood prevention and the evaluation of the Klaffenbach water inspection.

Following each item on the programme, citizens were given the opportunity to provide feedback. Among the topics discussed were the cleaning of gullies after heavy rainfall events and the organisation of the water defence. The event was also intended to once again raise awareness of the fact that 100% protection against flooding will never be possible, but that each individual can do a great deal to minimise the damage caused by flooding.

Below you will find some of the presentations shown for you to read.

The exhibition "The price of glass - bird strike on glass" was opened on 5 June 2023 in the city showcase by the Mayor for Law, Safety and Environmental Protection, Mr Kunze, and the curators from TU Dresden, Dr Lautenschläger and Dr Wiedmer. Around 25 interested people, including representatives from the Environmental Agency and the City of Chemnitz's building and land management department, were introduced to this important topic in short presentations. Every year, around 100 million birds die in Germany alone as a result of collisions with glass facades. The presentation of the exhibits is intended to sensitise citizens, especially architects and private building owners. The exhibition provides basic information on the problem, explains causes and particular danger spots. In addition, innovative and aesthetic solutions are presented on how buildings with glass can be designed to be bird-friendly. The free exhibition was on display in the foyer of the Technical Town Hall until 10 August.

After a break due to the coronavirus, the "Max Meise" campaign - nest box building for young and old - was held again on Saturday, 4 March 2023 from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm at the Chemnitz Nature Conservation Station in Präsenz. In previous years, the kits were only handed out for independent construction. More than 60 nesting boxes were assembled by around 150 participants in the event organised by the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of the Environmental Agency in cooperation with the Chemnitz Saxon Ornithologists' Association and the BUND Chemnitz regional group as part of the "Young Nature Guards Chemnitz" project.

In addition, illustrative and information material on the nesting boxes and their various inhabitants was exhibited. Nesting boxes primarily serve as a breeding aid for birds in spring. In winter, they provide a safe harbour for insects, small mammals and birds^.1

Source
1 A place to snuggle up - nesting boxes also help many birds in winter

On Tuesday, 7 February 2023, the Environmental Agency, the City of Chemnitz's Business Division in cooperation with eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co. KG, the Chemnitz Chamber of Crafts and the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Crafts hosted the 1st Energy Dialogue at the eins Conference Centre on Straße der Nationen. The aim was to bring together companies from industry, trade, commerce, trade and the service sector and to sensitise them with regard to their own power supply and options for action to reduce energy consumption. The overall aim is to form an innovation cluster.

Around 70 entrepreneurs from the region came together for informative short presentations. Among other things, the speakers discussed greenhouse gas emissions and potential savings in the city of Chemnitz, the current security of supply situation and the legal framework for self-supply with photovoltaic systems. Prof. Dr sc. techn. Erfurth moderated the 1st Chemnitz Energy Dialogue.

Following the presentations, the participants were able to exchange ideas over a snack. The offer from inetz GmbH to visit the control centre was quickly fully booked.

The response to the event was positive all round. In particular, the informative presentations and the selection of topics were praised, which contributed to a better understanding. The suggestions for improvement and the topics submitted for a possible 2nd Chemnitz Energy Dialogue are now being evaluated. Currently, the topic of innovation with regard to the storage of renewable energies and their energy-efficient reutilisation is crystallising as a particularly interesting topic.

We would like to thank Prof. Dr. sc. techn. Erfurth for his excellent moderation, all speakers for their successful presentations and all cooperation partners for the joint organisation of the 1st Chemnitz Energy Dialogue.

On 10 December 2022, the 3rd Chemnitz Species Conservation Day took place in the Weltecho cinema from 9 am to 3 pm. The 22 participants listened to presentations

• on white stork conservation in Chemnitz,
• the feeding ecology, population and distribution of the white stork in Saxony,
• the situation of the white stork in the Chemnitz region and south-west Saxony and
• the ringing and protection measures in Chemnitz.

During the presentations, the speakers also gave the audience the opportunity to ask questions and exchange views. The participants actively took up the speakers' offer. During the breaks between the presentations, there was time to discuss nature conservation issues.

We would like to thank the Chemnitz Adult Education Centre and all the speakers for a very informative and successful event and hope for a good stork year in 2023.