Micro district heating network fueled by biomass

Near the small town of Kötschach, one of Austria’s first hydropower plants was built back in 1886. A few years later, the small plant started to supply Kötschach with electricity, which thus became one of the first towns in Western Austria with its own private electricity network. A direct line leads to modern Kötschach. Today this town and nearby Mauthen are nearly self-sufficient with electricity and heating - supplied with electricity from local small-scale hydropower stations and other renewable sources like wind and solar power, and provided with heating by a biomass- and biogas-fuelled district heating plant. Renewables are all the rage in Kötschach.

• The biomass plant is situated just outside the center of Kötschach with its 3600 residents.
• The district heating network has a total length of 3.3 km. There is still scope for expansion, since most single-family houses are not yet supplied by energy from renewable energies.
• In 2008 the 1.5 MW wood-chipfuelled boiler produced 4.6 million kWh of heat for Kötschach, while another heating plant supplied nearby Mauthen with 1.8 million kWh.
• Danfoss has supplied the heating plant in Kötschach with 36 substations.
• The heating system is computerized thanks to the Danfoss Energy Control System, meaning the heating plant is in constant contact with the controllers on each substation.