Hot|Cool NO.3/2016 - "Cooperation in the energy sector"

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By Mr. Dr. Klaus Spindler, Fernwärmeschiene Rhein-Ruhr

of Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG, summarizes the key advantages of the new trunk line: “There are four good reasons in favor of the project: security of supply, price stability, climate protection and responsibility for the future. District heating not only represents an environmentally friendly alternative to off-peak electrical storage heaters, oil or natural gas, but also creates greater price stability for heating customers.”

An efficient, innovative and environmentally friendly supply of thermal energy, and security of supply for one of Europe’s largest metropolitan areas: These are the objectives of the planned Rhine-Ruhr District Heating Trunk Line, which will create Europe’s largest interconnected district heating network – taking the Ruhr district a great step forward in its transformation from an industrial center to one of the world’s leading climate protection zones. With the new Rhine-Ruhr District Heating Trunk Line which is to be installed between the existing district heating trunk lines of the Lower Rhine and the Ruhr, the people living in the region can enjoy heating supplies which are secure in the long-term, environmentally friendly and available at stable prices, and benefit from a reduction of about 100,000 metric tons in CO2 emissions each year.

Johannes Remmel, North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Minister, meeting with representatives of the project company and the city of Oberhausen near the planned route of the trunk line Key project of regional CHP policy With the planned district heating line, all project partners will be able to draw upon larger quantities of CO2-free waste heat and CHP energy. In this way, the Rhine-Ruhr District Heating Trunk Line will make a major contribution to the CO2 and CHP targets of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). In May 2013, North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Minister Johannes Remmel presented the results of the feasibility study “District Heating Prospects in the Ruhr District up to 2050”. The study, commissioned by the State’s Environment Ministry, indicates how efficient, innovative and environmentally friendly heating supply can be secured in the long-term for the Ruhr district, one of Europe’s largest conurbations, by linking the existing district heating trunk lines of the Lower Rhine (Duisburg- Moers) and the Ruhr (Herne-Essen). The Environment Ministry of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia had commissioned the feasibility study from BET in Aachen. The study follows on from the combined heat and power potential study for NRW of 2011, and shows how in 2050 – with changed generation structures – the Ruhr metropolis can be supplied with thermal energy from combined heat and power generation. The feasibility study reaches the conclusion that linking the Lower Rhine and Ruhr district heating lines by constructing a new trunk line is a sensible step. Connecting the district heating networks

Udo Wichert, Managing Director of STEAG Fernwärme GmbH and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the project company, receives the KlimaExpo. NRW award from Garrelt Duin, the Minister for Economics of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A project company, Fernwärmeschiene Rhein-Ruhr GmbH, was founded in March 2015 to implement the project. Its shareholders are the local authority owned companies STEAG Fernwärme GmbH (56.6 %), Fernwärmeversorgung Niederrhein GmbH (25.1 %) and Energieversorgung Oberhausen AG (18.3 %). The object of the venture is the planning, construction and operation of the Rhine-Ruhr District Heating Trunk Line. From 2017 onwards, the new district heating line is to be installed step by step. The new line will also permit the incorporation of additional industrial and renewable sources of energy. These include waste-to-energy plants, industrial facilities producing waste heat, gas- and coal-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plants and thermal energy from renewables-based CHP plants. Udo Wichert, Managing Director of STEAG Fernwärme GmbH and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the project company, emphasizes the project’s considerable benefits for the whole state: “The new district heating line opens up great potential for supplies to the people in North Rhine-Westphalia. This genuine energy transition with a local character can ensure that the vision of the Ruhr metropolis as a European green capital becomes reality.” Bernd Homberg, Technical Director

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