450,000 Euros of Federal Funding

On 24 June 2024, the official handover of the funding decision in the federal programme "Strategic Regional Development Concept" took place in Berlin and the Energieküste is part of it! Christian Rüsen, Chief District Administrator of the Dithmarschen district, accepted the notification of around 450,000 euros in funding from Federal Minister Klara Geywitz (Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction) - on behalf of the four Energieküste districts of North Frisia, Dithmarschen, Steinburg and Pinneberg. In spring 2024, the Energieküste consortium* applied to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) for funding to draw up a strategic regional development concept with its "West Coast Energy Competence Region" application.

"With the help of the project and the strategic perspective it gives us, we want to contribute to spreading the effects of the energy transition and the Northvolt settlement even more widely in the region," says Thorben Schütt, District Administrator of Dithmarschen. The district of Dithmarschen is the executing organisation of the "West Coast Energy Competence Region" project and will set up a full-time position funded by the BBSR to coordinate the project. The project will start on 1 July 2024 and the consortium will then have until October 2026 to draw up a Strategic Regional Development Concept (SREK).

The Energieküste is a highly dynamic centre for the integrated energy transition. The establishment of the Gigafactory Northvolt in Heide will accelerate the positive development momentum for the Energieküste. The strategic regional development concept is intended to steer the far-reaching transformation process at various levels, including in terms of infrastructure, transport, landscape and society. The concept will include a vision for the region for 2040.

"The project is a great opportunity for the Energieküste: it creates essential strategic and conceptual foundations. This will help us to further expand the signalling effect of the Energieküste in the future, take the entire region with us and thus shape the structural change in the entire region," says Elfi Heesch, Chairwoman of the Steering Committee of the West Coast Regional Cooperation and District Administrator of Pinneberg.

The SREK will address issues such as how to deal with competing land uses (e.g. due to energy supply, energy infrastructure, transport, agriculture, nature conservation), secondary settlements of the Northvolt settlement and the development of commercial space. At the same time, the funding will be used for an extensive participation process involving municipalities, public bodies, local political committees and the population. "The project offers the opportunity to showcase the partner network's strength of action to the public. We also hope that the use of the funding will accelerate the transformation process in the region," says Dirk Burmeister, CEO of the Heide Region Development Agency.

* The project consortium consists of the West Coast Regional Cooperation with partners from the four districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg, Dithmarschen and North Frisia, the regional business development organisations EGW - Entwicklungsgesellschaft Westholstein mbH, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft des Kreises Pinneberg mbH, Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Nordfriesland mbH, the Flensburg and Kiel Chambers of Industry and Commerce and the Development Agency Region Heide AöR. This consortium applied to the BBSR for funding under the regional umbrella brand Energieküste.

About the Energieküste

Schleswig-Holstein's North Sea coast is Germany's hotspot for renewable energies. Experts, researchers, creative minds and energy enthusiasts are working intensively to create a highly innovative, sustainable energy system from the inexhaustible resources here. The Energieküste was initiated in 2020 as a network and umbrella brand by the Regional Cooperation West Coast. RK-West Coast is an association of the districts of North Friesland, Dithmarschen, Steinburg and Pinneberg, which are considered pioneers of the energy transition, the Development Agency Westholstein, the WEP Development Agency of the District of Pinneberg, the Economic Development Agency North Frisia and the IHK Flensburg and IHK of Kiel. The aim of Energieküste is to strengthen the existing economy, attract new companies and skilled labour and create a striking image for the business location. The Energieküste is making a significant contribution to transforming Schleswig-Holstein into the first climate-neutral federal state. The Energieküste is financed with funds from the West Coast regional budget and the partners of the West Coast Regional Cooperation and the Development Agency Region Heide. The West Coast regional budget is funded from the "State Economic Programme" with funds from the joint federal-state task "Improvement of the regional economic structure".

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