Germany – Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services – Mindener Wärme GmbH - Neubau eines Holzheizwerkes (Biomasse-Heizwerk)

1. Current Situation

The existing district heating network supplies residential buildings via district heating and industrial customers via steam supply. The annual heat quantities amount to approximately 36 GWh of district heating and about 32 GWh of steam. The required peak loads are approximately 18 MW in the district heating sector and around 11 MW in the steam supply sector. Heat generation is currently entirely fossil-based. Given the legal requirements for decarbonisation, this results in an immediate need for transformation to ensure a long-term permissible and economically viable network operation.

2. Regulatory Project Basis

The construction of the biomass heating plant is essentially driven by regulatory requirements. The basis is the Heat Planning Act (WPG), which stipulates a share of renewable energies of at least 30% by 2030. Further increases are planned for 2040 (to 80%) and 2045 (to 100%).

3. Project Goal Biomass Heating Plant

The planned biomass heating plant represents the first significant renewable generation unit in the transformation process. A biomass boiler with a capacity of approximately 6 MW and about 4,000 operating hours per year is envisaged. The heating plant is primarily intended to cover the base load. By integrating the biomass plant, the share of renewable energies in the district heating network will be significantly increased, and a significant contribution to meeting the legal requirements by 2030 will be made.

4. Funding Structure

The project will be implemented using the Federal Funding for Efficient District Heating Networks (BEW), Module 2 (systemic funding). An investment grant of up to 40% of the eligible costs is being sought. Further information can be found in the project description attached to the tender documents. The contracting authority currently assumes a BImSchG procedure and corresponding input from all planning participants is required. The total costs are estimated at approximately 10.5 million EUR and completion is planned by the end of 2029.