German firm Bioenergie Breitenholz eG & Co KG is set to inaugurate a EUR 7.9 million (USD 8.68 million) heating system in the village of Breitenholz, located in the southeastern part of the country, that will provide entirely renewable heat.
The innovative system will generate 65% of its heat from wood chips, with the remaining 35% coming from a solar collector field covering 2,000 square meters.
Since September 16, the solar collectors have been operational, connecting 115 houses to the heating network. Bioenergie Breitenholz aims to eventually connect a total of 132 buildings, which represents more than half of the 250 buildings in Breitenholz. The system also features a heat storage facility with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters.
The company expects to sell approximately 2.2 million kWh of heat annually, a volume that will prevent the combustion of around 220,000 liters of heating oil each year.
Bioenergie Breitenholz is 80% owned by the cooperative Buerger-Energie Tuebingen eG, which initiated the project, while the remaining 20% of shares are held by heating customers.
