The expansion of the SWG district heating network at the intersection of Bahnhofstrasse and Westanlage is nearing completion these days. The last pipe sections are currently being installed, after which the engineers will fill the pipe system with heating water. However, it will still take some time before the carriageway surface is closed. The junction is expected to be open to traffic again by the end of the year.
The road construction project, which was coordinated by the city's civil engineering department, took nine months to complete and closes a significant gap in the city's district heating network. The new heating route shortens the transport distance for district heating from the combined heat and power plant on the SWG site and the biomass heating plant of the municipal utilities on the site of the municipal haulage and cleaning department to the city centre by more than one kilometre. This considerably reduces unnecessary energy losses during transport. In future, the heat generated by highly efficient combined heat and power generation and from biomass will reach the connected households much more directly.
Both plants reduce environmental pollution thanks to highly modern and very effective flue gas cleaning, which in some cases is several times lower than the specified limit values. In addition, thanks to modern generation plants and efficient energy distribution via the district heating network, around 70,000 tonnes of the greenhouse gasCO2 will be saved in Giessen this year alone compared to fossil-fuelled individual heating systems.