Buttenwiesen – The future residents of the newly built housing estate “Tegernheim Süd-West I” near Regensburg will be supplied with heat via a 100 per cent renewable energy system. The system may also be expanded to include existing buildings. GP JOULE will enable this in collaboration with the municipality by means of an innovative concept involving the foundation of a utility company in which the local authority holds a majority share. GP JOULE has already successfully established this kind of public private partnership with the Bavarian municipalities of Mertingen and Buttenwiesen as well as with Bosbüll and Bordelum in Schleswig-Holstein.
The municipality of Tegernheim will be the majority shareholder of the local utility company, while GP JOULE will hold a minority share. “Municipal projects in the area of renewable energies are a key element of effective climate protection primarily geared towards benefiting local residents. We're particularly aiming to enable small and medium-sized municipalities to successfully initiate and implement this type of project by getting involved as partners and contributing our expertise, personnel and network in a way that is oriented towards local needs. Here we’re offering our comprehensive peace-of-mind package. The combination of individual strengths in this long-term collaboration also ensures a particularly low-cost and sustainable scheme for citizens,” says Heiner Gärtner, one of the two founders and managing directors of GP JOULE, explaining the benefits for the small municipality. The first mayor Max Kollmannsberger is also very much in favour of the project: “The municipality of Tegernheim regards the establishment of the utility company as a key step in shaping the future of Tegernheim in terms of local energy supply. The planned local heat grid on the “Tegernheim Süd-West I” housing estate is a pioneering project and offers enormous opportunities for straightforward implementation of additional energy projects in the near future. The municipality of Tegernheim looks forward to sound and close collaboration with its new partner GP JOULE.”
According to the current planning status, the project is geared towards the successive supply of seven detached/semi-detached homes, 16 single-family homes and five apartment buildings with a projected annual heat requirement of more than 480 MWh. The apartment buildings will be the first to be connected in 2019. Grid expansion will then carry on consistently through to 2023/2024. The aim is also to push for existing buildings in the neighbourhood to be incorporated in the grid as well. The utility company is due to be established this year: this means that detailed implementation planning can start in 2019 when development of the new housing area gets underway. Heat distribution on the new housing estate will be possible by 2020.
GP JOULE’s past reference projects have already involved installing 17 kilometres of heat grid. Almost 250 customers are supplied via a wide range of different heat generation systems that were planned and realised by GP JOULE. The company also acts as a partner in all aspects of renewable energies, e.g. establishing electric mobility in the municipality. The Buttenwiesen heat grid is a successful example of how the heat grid itself is used as an efficient day-time storage facility so as to maximise waste heat utilisation and meet peak demand with minimum effort. The heat grid in the municipality of Mertingen supplies a new administration premises belonging to the company Zott, where 400 employees work. Commercial production facilities and public buildings are also integrated. In the municipality of Bosbüll, a feasibility study was initially drawn up according to the Heat Grids 4.0 programme involving a seasonal or long-term storage unit with the aim of making effective use of surplus wind-generated current for heat supply: implementation recently got underway.
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Press contact:
Ms. Birka Friedrich
Head of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: b.friedrich(at)gp-joule.de
Tel. +49 (0) 4671-6074-237
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About GP JOULE:
Founded in 2009 based on the belief that a 100% renewable energy supply is feasible, GP JOULE is now a system provider for integrated energy solutions from solar, wind and biomass power as well as being a partner at the supply level for heat as well as electric and hydrogen-powered mobility. A pioneer in the area of sectoral cross-linkage, the SME has a workforce of over 200 employees at sites in Germany and North America.
