Vienna is also currently heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. It is not just gas heating that is affected – up to 65 percent of the energy in district heating also comes from gas. The gas phase-out is a “marathon”, according to public utility manager Peter Weinelt.
22.04.2022 17.48
Online since yesterday at 5:48 p.m
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You can’t get out of Russian natural gas now, says Peter Weinelt, deputy director general of Wiener Stadtwerke in an interview with “Vienna Today”: “Austria now gets 80 percent of its natural gas from Russia. I think it’s clear, this dependency.” And it’s the same in Vienna.
In order for a gas phase-out to be possible in the future, one must now rely on alternative energy generation – such as solar power or geothermal energy. “The strong expansion of renewable energy can only be the only answer to the dependence on gas,” emphasizes Climate Councilor Jürgen Czernohorszky (SPÖ).
Leaving gas takes time
Ten years ago, a phase-out of gas, for example for district heating, is not to be expected. That says Peter Weinelt from Wiener Stadtwerke. 80 percent of the gas used in Vienna comes from Russia. Alternatives are being developed, but this is taking a long time.
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“It won’t be possible under ten years”
In the sewage treatment plant in Simmering, for example, a new heat pump will be able to heat more than 100,000 apartments in full operation. However, the heat pump will not be in full operation until 2027. The gas phase-out will also take years, stresses energy manager Weinelt: “It will definitely not be less than ten years. And the last gas thermal bath in Vienna will not be able to go out of service until the end of the next decade.”
For example, while district heating could theoretically quickly switch to a supply without gas, entire buildings have to be converted to traditional gas heating systems. Wiener Energie is currently developing a concept for this together with property developers.
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