Heat that makes the most of local resources
District heating is one of the most efficient ways to provide space heating and hot water for buildings today.
At our plants, heat is generated primarily from woody biomass, a renewable energy source. We use wood sourced from within a maximum radius of 200 kilometres. This shortens the supply chain and helps support the management of local forest resources.
Some plants still need to use natural gas. However, the direction for these facilities is clear: gradually reducing its use and supporting their decarbonisation are part of our industrial plan.
District heating also makes it possible to recover heat that would otherwise be lost. This includes thermal energy from certain industrial processes and from Bolzano’s waste-to-energy plant for municipal residual waste, which is used to supply the city’s district heating network.
In this way, what is a by-product of one process becomes a resource for households, businesses and public buildings: heat is given a second life and put to use within the local area.
When it integrates renewable sources and recovered heat and is operated efficiently, district heating can help reduce the use of fossil fuels and CO₂ emissions, supporting the decarbonisation of local areas.
Lower CO₂ emissions to help us go further
Through district heating, we avoid an average of 40.598 tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year, helping to address climate change and improve the quality of the air we breathe.
Managing heat at a district heating plant enables the centralised and efficient use of energy resources with state-of-the-art technology. The plants are continuously monitored and optimised to support high standards of efficiency and safety.
How district heating works
District heating generates heat in one or more centralised plants and distributes it to buildings through a network of underground pipes.
Water heated at the plant reaches users and transfers the thermal energy required for space heating and domestic hot water through a heat exchanger. Once it has released its heat, the water returns to the plant, where it is reheated and fed back into the circuit.
Depending on the characteristics of the local area and the plants, heat can come from a range of sources, including biomass, geothermal energy, waste-to-energy processes or thermal energy recovered from industrial processes.
What are the benefits of the system?
Centralised heat production enables coordinated plant management and monitoring, supporting efficient system operation. District heating can also facilitate the integration of different energy sources and the recovery of thermal energy that would otherwise remain unused.
The environmental and energy performance of a network depends on the sources used, plant efficiency and the characteristics of the distribution system. These factors influence the system’s emissions and overall performance.