With today's groundbreaking ceremony for the joint wood-fired heating plant, RheinEnergie AG and Cologne Bonn Airport are continuing their activities to protect the climate: a wood-fired heating plant is being built on the airport site that will reduce CO2 emissions by 2,700 tonnes a year and thus supply the airport with heat generated in an environmentally friendly way.The renewable fuel will be supplied locally by Abfallentsorgungs- und Verwertungsgesellschaft Köln mbH (AVG Cologne). The plant is scheduled for completion in winter 2025/2026 and will then achieve a heat output of 2.5 megawatts (MW).
‘We are proud to be making an active contribution to climate protection and to be advancing the sustainable development of our airport by building this innovative wood-fired heating plant,’ emphasises Thilo Schmid, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH. ’The use of renewable raw materials such as wood not only ensures a stable source of energy, but also reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and contributes significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions.’
‘The construction of this new wood-fired heating plant marks a significant step towards a sustainable and climate-friendly energy supply,’ says Andreas Feicht, CEO of RheinEnergie. ’We are pleased to be able to implement this flagship project efficiently and in partnership with Cologne Bonn Airport and AVG Köln.’
‘The wood-fired heating plant is a prime example of how to successfully utilise expertise throughout the entire City of Cologne group and thus think holistically about decarbonisation in Cologne. Here at the airport, municipal holdings are jointly taking responsibility for the energy transition – and thus helping to combine Cologne's locational strength as a transport hub with our quest for climate neutrality,’ says Cologne's Mayor Henriette Reker.
AVG Cologne supplies local, renewable raw materials
For the wood-fired heating plant, RheinEnergie and Cologne Bonn Airport are relying on the sustainable and climate-friendly use of wood as a fuel. They use green waste from the airport's own areas and local, renewable raw materials such as landscape conservation material, which AVG Ressourcen, a subsidiary of AVG Cologne, processes and makes available.
‘We are taking over the entire material flow for the project. We ensure sufficient input as well as the disposal of the remaining ash,’ explains AVG Managing Director Andreas Freund. ’We are pleased that we can close another material cycle with the renewable raw material wood directly from our city. The very short transport distances also contribute to this.’
Planning and construction of the plant in a contracting model
As an energy service provider, RheinEnergie has been reliably ensuring the supply of gas, electricity, cooling and heating to Cologne Bonn Airport for many years – the partners already jointly operate various plants on the airport premises. The new wood-fired heating plant is now also being built by the ‘RheinEnergie - next energy solutions’ team as part of a contracting agreement. ‘Together, we are constantly working on solutions to supply the airport with energy in a climate-neutral, efficient and secure manner. We have now reached another milestone on this journey,’ says Stephan Segbers, Chief Sales Officer at RheinEnergie.
The airport can use the heat produced for heating in winter – up to a third of the airport's total heating needs are covered by the wood-fired heating plant. In summer, surplus heat can be converted into cooling.
Federal funding for the energy-efficient plant
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWi) is funding the installation of the wood-fired heating plant with resources from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), which is responsible for the project, emphasises the important contribution to climate protection: ‘The wood-fired heating plant at Cologne/Bonn Airport is a good example of how industrial and utility companies can contribute to the sustainability of the heating supply with innovative solutions. I am very pleased that we are able to support this project with federal funding and thus avoid the use of fossil fuels,’ says BAFA President Dr Mandy Pastohr.
