Waldstetten: New heating network with wood - future of heat supply?

Waldstetten: New heating network with wood - future of heat supply?

In the municipality of Waldstetten, the signs are on change! Mayor Michael Rembold and the managing director of Süwag, Dirk Gerber, recently signed a contract that paves the way for a new heating network. Until the heating season 2026/27, parts of Waldstettens are to be supplied with sustainable heat, and the whole thing at extremely attractive prices. According to engineer Jürgen Hagenlocher, 90 percent of the energy from wood chips come, while heating oil only serves as a reserve. This environmentally friendly initiative could be the crucial answer to the current challenges in the heat supply, which is currently criticized in the neighboring community of Bettringen, since the prices for district heating there are highly existential for many citizens, such as the remszeitung reported.

In Bettringen, on the other hand, the situation is much more tense. Here, the citizens already pay 27.2 cents per kWh for gas -powered district heating, which corresponds to more than a doubling of the price. As part of information events, Stadtwerke boss Peter Ernst had to admit that the prices could increase to 51.4 cents per kilowatt hour by 2026 without being able to present serious solutions. Therefore, the municipal utilities want to value more transparency, while criticism of the outdated infrastructure is getting louder. This is despite the fact that the municipal utilities have announced that the price will be reduced to 19.85 cents per kWh from January 2025, which just jumps under the magical 20 cent mark. However, the actual challenges and the billing practices in Bettringen have led to a kind of "blackbox", which many perceived as incomprehensible, as the 50komma2

The future of heat supply

Energy consultant Stephan Preiß has expressed very critical to the existing heat planning and demands fundamental changes. Many of the proposed systems are no longer up to date and could not justify the high costs. Instead, he advocates new, efficient technologies that better meet the requirements of modern energy consumers. In view of this development, the newly planned heating network in Waldstetten could be considered a future -oriented model, while the municipality of Bettringen urgently needs to search for solutions in order to continue to ensure its citizens an affordable energy supply. The comparison of both communities clearly shows how important innovative approaches are to meet the challenges of the current time.