University of Passau starts sustainable energy revolution on campus!

University of Passau starts sustainable energy revolution on campus!

The University of Passau is expanding its sustainability and climate protection efforts by installing new photovoltaic systems on campus. This initiative, announced today, includes a planned 2.3 MWp of PV capacity to be installed across twelve different university buildings. Among the buildings that will be equipped with the new facilities are the cafeteria, the sports center, the Juridicum and the central library, to name just a few. The first work has already begun on the roofs of the daycare center and the IT and mathematics building. The start of operation of all new systems is scheduled for August 2025 uni-passau.de reported.

Parallel to the installation of the PV systems, a new fiber optic network will be set up on campus. This project, which is planned by the operational technology team and the ELMA engineering firm, is made possible through financial support from the Free State in the form of special funds. Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith, Vice President for Transfer and Sustainability, emphasizes that the planning process is complex and time-consuming, but is of great importance in supporting the university's sustainability goals.

Sustainable energy from data centers

In addition to the new solar projects, the University of Passau plans to build a climate-neutral data center called the “Bavarian Green Data Center” by the end of 2024. Supported by the Digital Ministry, a photovoltaic system on the roof of the data center will provide the required energy for the servers. The energy requirement of data centers in Germany rose to around 16 billion kilowatt hours in 2020 compared to around 10 billion kilowatt hours in 2010. The university has around 30 years of experience in the use of waste heat and renewable energy, which makes it particularly qualified in this context, as the sueddeutsche.de highlights.

A future-oriented element of the new data center is the reuse of the resulting waste heat, which is used to grow CO2-absorbing plants in an adjacent greenhouse. Digital Minister Judith Gerlach emphasizes the urgency of reducing energy consumption in the IT sector, especially in light of the new requirements set by the Energy Efficiency Act 2023 (EnEfG). This law obliges data centers to implement specific energy saving measures, which the University of Passau is already actively taking into account.

Regulatory framework conditions

The Energy Efficiency Act, which came into force in November 2023, is in line with the EU Energy Efficiency Directive. It sets specific targets that data centers should meet by 2030. This includes, among other things, that the PUE value (Power Usage Effectiveness) must not exceed 1.5 from January 1, 2027, and must even be reduced to 1.3 from January 1, 2030. This development shows the clear focus on the need to make data centers more sustainable pwc.de determines.

The University of Passau is positioning itself not only as a local educational institution, but also increasingly as a pioneer in the area of ​​climate-neutral technologies and sustainable development. With these initiatives, the university demonstrates a strong commitment to environmental protection and future viability in the German university landscape.