Zurich decides on a 330 million loan for more district heating
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Zurich voters decide on a 330 million loan for the expansion of the district heating supply
District heating should pave the way to CO in Zurich2-neutral heating with leveling. The city council estimates the next expansion step at CHF 330 million. The electorate will decide on November 28th.
The greenhouse gas emissions in Zurich’s urban area, which are decisive for climate change, have been minimal by a quarter since 1990. But the CO is still there2-Emissions per capita at 4.5 tons. That is a long way from the net zero target that the city council will achieve by 2040. An expansion of the district heating supply for 330 million francs is now planned. The city of Zurich’s electorate will decide on November 28th. The project should fit in with achieving the net-zero goal, as the city council notes. Because houses that are dying and the district heating network are connected will no longer need heating oil or natural gas in the future, if the city government’s plans go.
In this respect, the city of Zurich proposal complements the cantonal proposal for the Energy Act, which will be voted on on the same day. The latter sees the replacement of oil and gas heating with CO2-neutral heating systems. For example, November 28th will be a key date for climate policy for Zurich’s electorate.
It’s about 36,000 tons of CO annually2
The main sources for district heating in Zurich are the Hagenholz waste incineration plant and the Aubrugg wood-fired thermal power station. From there, the heat in the form of hot water or steam is distributed through long pipes. Almost a quarter of the urban Zurich settlement area today receives district heating from Disposal and Recycling Zurich (ERZ) in this way. Compared to oil heating, this saves around 200,000 tons of CO annually2 a. With the nun to vote on the upcoming expansion, the district heating coverage would increase to 30 percent of the Zurich city area. According to the city council, this means that 36,000 tonnes of CO2 save on.
The project: builds on what already exists In 2018, the city of Zurich’s electorate decided to build a six-kilometer long district heating connection from the Hagenholz waste incineration plant to Zurich-West for 235 million francs. You Zurich-West also after the end of the KVA Josefstrasse with district heating. Now the neighboring districts of Aussersihl, Zurich-West / Sihlquai, Wipkingen, Oberstrass, Unterstrass and Guggach are to be connected to it by 2040. This is what the 330 million Swiss francs are intended for, which the electorate now decides on. The loan is to flow back into the city coffers through the income from district heating by 2050.
After deficits, there has recently been a profit of almost 10 million francs a year
The first district heating pipeline was built in Zurich in 1927. Today the urban district heating network is over 150 kilometers long and serves 6,400 properties. After district heating was in deficit at the end of the 1990s due to the high investments, it recently made an annual profit of almost 10 million francs, according to the city council.
However, it does not yet provide warmth entirely without greenhouse gas: Zurich’s district heating is currently only 70 percent CO2-neutral. If the heating requirement is particularly high, fossil fuel is also used. The latter is to be eliminated by 2040, with biogas also being used at peak times. The prerequisites for this are the planned construction of a third incineration line in the Hagenholz waste incineration plant and the renovation of the Aubrugg wood-fired thermal power station.
But the loan that is now being voted on has only indirectly to do with it: it is used to connect the quarters mentioned to the established district heating network. The city council will use the construction work for this with other road construction and works management projects in such a way that the number of construction sites remains as low as possible.
The SVP alone is against the 330 million loan
The Zurich city parliament approved the 330 million loan with 102: 17 votes. Only the SVP is against it. She criticizes the district heating network as inefficient and calls for the direct production of electricity for heating. According to the ERZ, the efficiency from burning the rubbish in the KVA Hagenholz to the heating of the connected houses is 75 percent. The responsible city councilor Richard Wolff (AL) emphasizes in parliament that it makes most sense to use heat directly as heat, since every energy conversion is associated with losses.
In addition, the opposition is bothered by the fact that today’s district heating system cannot do without natural gas and heating oil. It is also unclear how daily storage capacities, wood energy and the use of biogas will develop in the future.
Waste from southern Germany also becomes district heating in Zurich
The supra-regional delivery of waste to the Hagenholz KVA also pollutes the environment. Is the canton required to burn the waste where the heat can be used most efficiently, as City Councilor Wolff countered. And in a big city, the density of consumers of heat is greatest.
According to the ERZ, of the 250,000 tonnes of waste that burned in Hagenholz in 2020, 40 percent was municipal waste from the city of Zurich. 18 percent come from contracting municipalities in the canton of Zurich and 42 percent from private individuals and companies, mainly also from the canton of Zurich; The latter category also includes 8,000 tons from the southern German district hat, with which there is a long-term waste supply contract.
Another point of criticism of the SVP on the profitability of the district heating. This depends on how many buildings are connected. The city council expects a connection rate of 70 percent; today it is 60 percent in the areas that have already been developed. The higher future offers will reach the city council, such as gas is being replaced by district heating, community connections are being promoted and house connections are being pre-installed in new development areas.
Therefore, sooner or later there is a threat of a connection obligation, warned the opposition in the local council. According to the SVP, the homeowners should be free to decide which heating system to use. This freedom also calls into question the canton’s bill for the Energy Act. The fight against climate change, however, takes precedence over the right to a free choice of heating, according to the majority of the parties.