Stadtwerke Giessen invited interested parties to visit the combined heat and power plant in Udersbergstraße to see how and where Giessen's green electricity is generated. Last Sunday, employees gave a tour of the plant and provided information about the technology.
Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG) invited visitors to the East substation in Udersbergstraße in Gießen on Sunday 13 October under the motto "Gießen's green electricity is produced here". A total of 200 visitors came to find out how combined heat and power generation works, which is used to produce electricity and heat simultaneously in the combined heat and power plant (CHP) there. The 10,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity generated by the plant each year are enough to supply around 3,300 households in Giessen with green electricity. It also generates 13,000 MWh of heat, which can be used to heat around 720 single-family homes and supply them with hot water. This particularly efficient plant saves 1917 tonnes of CO2 per year compared to heating oil.
However, the interested visitors were not only able to find out about efficient combined heat and power generation, as SWG had also brought along its E-smart. The electric vehicle has been part of SWG's fleet for almost a year, and the company is testing the E-smart in Giessen's city transport system. As the E-smart runs on green electricity from Giessen, it is 100 per cent nuclear-free.
The SWG energy advisors were also on hand to answer any questions visitors had - for example about saving energy or tariff offers. "Our open day at the CHP plant in Udersbergstraße was a success," says SWG company spokeswoman Ina Weller. "It showed us that people here in the region are interested in our work and our commitment to climate protection." After all, SWG generates around 40 per cent of all the green electricity it supplies to its private customers itself. This corresponds to around 109 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
Stadtwerke Gießen provides further information on the combined heat and power plant and Giessen's green electricity on the website www.giessener-gruenstrom.de.