Opening of Austria’s largest ground-mounted solar thermal plant
Styrian flagship project aims to be a role model for heating conversion in Austrian municipalities.
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On July 6, the Energy Globe Styria Award was presented in the auditorium of the old University of Graz, SOLID and solar.nahwaerme.at Energiecontracting GmbH were nominated with AVL LIST GmbH with a very innovative project in the category “Industry”.
AVL List GmbH is an Austrian technology group with approx. 11,000 employees throughout Austria. Drive systems for the automotive industry and other branches of industry are developed, simulated and tested at the Graz site.
SOLID Energy Systems GmbH has implemented Europe’s largest solar thermal process heating and cooling plant at AVL’s Graz site on behalf of solar.nahwaerme.at Energycontracting GmbH. The already existing cooling and heating network requires a lot of energy. Due to the location in Graz, only limited roof areas were available, which meant that no relevant collector area on the ground could be used. However, a parking garage extension provided the opportunity to cover the roofs with collectors.
The solar thermal driven chiller has a capacity of 650 kW (3.463 m² solar collectors) which is used for cooling processes. An integrated 70m³ buffer storage can also be used by the conventional system for energy-optimized load management. In total, 320 tons of CO2 per year can be saved with this solar system.
A special feature of the project is that the solar panels installed on the roof of the parking garage allow employees to enter a shaded vehicle. AVL also wanted to avoid the snow load on the parking roof, which is reduced by the solar collectors, which are warm even in winter.
A well-known problem in Graz is the poor air quality due to the closed “basin”. In recent years, the pollutant emission values have been improved more and more by various environmentally friendly measures. In this respect, it is important for Graz that companies like SOLID work tirelessly to develop creative and resilient energy supply solutions that bring us one step closer to the energy transition and thus sustainable energy supply with alternative energy sources.
About the Energy Globe Styria Award
The Globe is awarded annually and honors the best Styrian eco-innovative projects. This year, 15 projects were nominated from a total of 52 submissions.
More about the project: AVL company – Solid
Styrian flagship project aims to be a role model for heating conversion in Austrian municipalities.
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