Opened in 2017, Vienna’s Power-2-Heat plant converts surplus electricity into heat to make more efficient use of green energy. The state-of-the-art facility can take in power from up to ten wind turbines and convert it into heat with virtually no energy loss. The heat is fed into the Vienna district heating network in the form of hot water and can supply up to 20,000 households. Power-to-Heat facilitates the integration of  green electricity into the energy system. Storing large quantities of electricity remains a challenge, and heat can also be stored more easily and economically than electricity.

Energy from 10 wind turbines

The innovative plant couples the power and district heating grids, which makes ecological sense because it reduces the amount of fossil fuels required to produce heat locally in Vienna. Municipal energy provider Wien Energie activates the plant in the event of a power oversupply. The facility has the capacity to take in renewable electricity from up to ten wind turbines and convert it into heat with virtually no energy loss. A power surplus occurs in strong wind conditions, for example, when wind turbines generate more electricity than is needed at that moment. The 20-megawatt Power-2-Heat plant is enabling further consolidation of Vienna’s district heating network.  It is also helping to stabilise the city’s power grid and open up opportunities to tap into more renewable sources of energy – exactly as envisaged in the Smart City Wien Framework Strategy.

Supply meets demand

The production of solar and wind power is weather dependent and thus cannot be switched on or off at will.  When surplus electricity is available, the  Power-2-Heat plant is activated and uses the excess power to heat water. A heat exchanger feeds the hot water into the district heating network at a temperature of approx. 160°C.  The facility actually consists of two separate plants, each with 10 MW output, which can be operated independently. If one heater fails, the second can immediately take over the load.

Vienna’s district heating grid

Wien Energie currently supplies 380,000 households and 6,800 major customers from its district heating network. When it first went into operation almost 50 years ago, the network was 26 kilometres long and served Vienna General Hospital and a few large municipal housing complexes. Today there are more than 1,200 kilometres of pipeline and the network supplies all 23 municipal districts.

Contact

Wien Energie GmbH

E-Mail: office@wienenergie.at

Website: www.wienenergie.at