Win-win situation in Wain: local heating for häwa GmbH and Holzwerk Baur

Since 2022, the timber plant, which is around 300 meters away from häwa as the crow flies, has been operating a modern heating plant with two hot water boilers, each with a nominal heat output of five megawatts, in which waste wood from its own production is burned. häwa, on the other hand, needs hot water for the heating network and process water for the powder coating plant at its production site in Wain. Until now, hot water generation and hot water supply for the heater and coating process was mainly gas-fired. This will now change at the end of March.

Closed circuit with flow and return

The local heating system functions as a closed circuit with flow and return. The incoming hot water with a temperature of around 90 degrees Celsius is pumped from the sawmill to häwa via an underground pipeline and fed into a heat exchange station. In this station, the hot water releases its heat energy and flows back to the sawmill's heating station as a return flow at around 60 degrees Celsius. The water heated on the secondary side in the heat exchanger is stored in a nine cubic meter buffer tank at häwa. From there, the hot water is distributed as required. Part of the hot water is fed into the heating and hot water network, while another part is used as process water for washing and pre-treatment in the powder coating process.

The heat consumption on the part of häwa amounts to around 1 million kWh per year. In conjunction with the new, energy-efficient powder coating plant currently under construction with new oven technology, modified process control and use of the radiant heat from the heated products, only around a third of the previous gas consumption will be required in future. In terms of the company's carbon footprint, this means an annual reduction of a good 450,000 kilograms of CO2 for the häwa site in Wain.

häwa responds to the need for an energy rethink

The impetus for this project came from the precarious energy price situation that arose in 2022 due to Russia's attack on Ukraine and the emergency gas plan that was finally declared by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in June 2022. With the gas emergency plan, the risk of gas rationing, even a gas supply freeze, was within reach. In this situation, ideas for energy rethinking were needed.

For companies, the cost of providing heating energy is a significant factor, which is leading to increasing burdens in view of rising prices and CO2 levies for fossil fuels. On the other hand, the supply and provision of heat plays a key role in terms of sustainability and the future viability of the social economy. Managing Director Arno Müller emphasizes: "Using the regional potential of renewable energies to generate heat is not only a way out of the spiralling price spiral and a positive contribution to climate protection, but also an opportunity to strengthen regional economic cycles, resulting in higher regional added value.