2. ENERGY SUPPLY COMPANY - Stadwerke Suhl/Zella-Mehlis (Reinsteig Energy) SWSZ:
We are met by Herr Marshall, the Chief Engineer of the HEAT STORAGE facility for SWSZ - the facility has been here since 1959 and provides the heat to the City network. The company is owned by the towns of Suhl and Zella-Mehlis. It also buys heat from the EFW Suhl plant. At this site they use gas and some oil for their CHP system. The facility includes three large water treatment tanks. In the summer it produces 5 MW and in the winter 45 MW of heat...it used to produce heat to 65,000 residents but now the local population has dropped to 35,000. It cost 20million Euros to build.
There are three main gas turbines - at the time they were not working because the heat is being produced via the EFW facility and it is summer demand time. Each turbine produces 4.5 MW of electricity and 9 MW of heat.
SWSZ produces about 30% of their customers energy. In September when the Suhl EFW plant closes down (each year for the month for maintenance) this site runs to full capacity. The EFW heat and power is cheaper to buy for SWSZ than the energy they generate from their own CHP plant that uses natural gas and oil to run.
The laying of new pipes cost 625 Euros/ meter based on a recent heat network that replaced oil pipes and covered 630 meters at a total cost of 400,000 Euros.
SWSZ produces heat for 35,000 customers.
SWSZ own just 3 PV systems on one of their buildings and on a school totalling 130kw. In the region solar is not such a big focus due to the amount of sun and weather. The company also buys green energy from Hydro but they say their customers don't demand green tariffs. We ask about Biomass but the local forests are within a Unesco Biosphere and also the price of gas is cheaper than biomass and they don't see this as a solution. Wind is not promoted in this region either.