Urban-rural relations in renewable electric energy supply – the case of a German energy region

The study analyzes the cross-linking of urban and rural regions in terms of synergies between electric energy supply from renewables and electric energy demand by taking the example of a German energy region. The cooperation between a German medium-sized city, the City of Osnabrück, and its neighboring rural municipalities, Landkreis Osnabrück and Kreis Steinfurt, is evaluated regarding a joint regional electric energy supply. Real self-sufficiency degrees resulting from residual load profiles are analyzed for different scenarios. Cross-linking the city with its rural neighbors leads to higher possible self-sufficiency rates within the urban area. As to the rural regions, self-sufficiency decreases compared to considering them as single regions. The rural municipality Landkreis Osnabrück, e.g., achieves 68% real self-sufficiency with respect to its 2030 renewable energy targets and without considering storage. Cross-linkage with the City of Osnabrück results in a decrease to 60% while at the same time from the perspective of the City of Osnabrück self-sufficiency increases from 27 to 60%.