The issue of energy costs also reached the local council of Amaliendorf-Aalfang via an urgent request: previous contracts will expire in the next few months, so energy officer Andreas Weber sought offers for electricity and gas.
He put the annual electricity consumption for community buildings and infrastructure at 95,000 kWh per year; major consumers include the local supplier in Amaliendorf and the sports field. They unanimously agreed on WEB’s offer of 11.9 cents per kWh. For gas, an offer from EVN was chosen that promised 7.2 cents per kWh – Weber also spoke of a tripling of the price for the best bidder compared to the current tariff. The annual consumption is 148,000 kWh. “I would prefer that we no longer need gas tomorrow,” said Weber.
Emissions significantly reduced within two years
Of course, the change won’t happen overnight, but it has already happened to some extent. By switching the heating in the Amaliendorf elementary school from gas to pellets in 2020, the total CO emissions from buildings, systems and the vehicle fleet in the market town of Amaliendorf were reduced from 70 tons in 2019 to 50 tons in 2021, explained local councilor Andreas Weber in its energy report. In 2021, the market town concluded long-term energy supply contracts until 2024 for both electricity and gas and was therefore not yet affected by the currently high energy prices.
Weber: “Nevertheless, measures have already been taken to further reduce energy consumption in the short term, such as reducing the room temperature at the municipal office or switching off property lighting at night.” In 2022, the heating in the building yard was switched from oil to pellets, which resulted in led to a further reduction in emissions. After the implementation of this measure, there will no longer be oil heating in community-owned buildings and facilities. In addition, a photovoltaic system with an output of 20 kWp was installed on the roof of the community’s own tennis room.
Still potential for heating systems and photovoltaics
The community’s own electricity production – primarily thanks to the photovoltaic systems – exceeded the limit of 60 MWh for the first time in 2022. As further measures, the energy representative recommends, among other things, the insulation of the top floor ceiling in the fire station, the conversion of further gas heating systems to heating systems with renewable energy and the construction of further PV systems – especially on the local supplier building. The aim is to achieve the climate targets set by the state of Lower Austria for municipalities by 2030.
