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They take responsibility for the local heating system in Egelhofen from left (back): Joachim Rogg, Peter Butzmann, Sigfried Merk, (front) Patrick Schropp, Erwin Hörtnagel and Fabian Meixner. © Bartenschlager
They no longer wanted to be so dependent on oil and gas. Therefore, a cooperative was founded in Egelhofen that operates a local heating system. In May 2023, the necessary lines were completed in one go along with road construction work. The construction of the boiler house took about a year. The local heating system has now been in operation for several months. The facility was recently presented to the public.
Egelhofen – Patrick Schropp, one of the cooperative’s board members, explained how the fully automatic system works: There are two buffer tanks in the boiler house that together hold 20,000 liters of water. The water in the storage tanks is heated by the three furnaces with a total output of 690 kW. The hot water is delivered to the houses via the previously laid pipes. Here the so-called transfer station removes the heat from the water. The cold water is then piped back to the local heating system. This creates a water cycle.
Open day at the local heating system in Egelhofen
Heating is done with wood chips. The wood usually comes from the cooperative members themselves or from the community, explains Schropp. The wood chips are stored behind the boiler house in a warehouse with a volume of 300 cubic meters. The project cost 950,000 euros and was financed partly by the cooperative members and partly by a loan. In the long term, the system should finance itself through energy production. 34 households in Egelhofen are currently involved in the local heating system. Interested households that are not yet involved can also join later.
For the future, Schropp revealed that the idea was being considered of installing a PV system or solar systems in the open area next to the local heating system.
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