BENTELER supplies Schloß Neuhaus with sustainable energy

Paderborn/Salzburg, March 25, 2019 – Energy “go!”: On Monday, representatives of the city of Paderborn and the Management Board of BENTELER Steel/Tube gave the start signal for the BENTELER heat supply. From April 1, 2019, BENTELER will supply public buildings in the Paderborn neighborhood Schloß Neuhaus with waste heat from the process furnaces in its plant. These buildings include schools, gyms, a police station, the public indoor swimming pool and the castle that was once the residence of the prince-bishop. These buildings make up approximately 20 percent of the heat demand of all municipal facilities. Now at least half of this demand will be covered by waste heat. This will decrease the CO2 emissions of the city by over 600 tons per year.

“Through this project, we make an important contribution to climate and environment protection and to the sustainable development of Schloß Neuhaus,” says Christian Wiethüchter, Member of the Management Board at BENTELER Steel/Tube. The steel tube plant in Schloß Neuhaus is part of the Division Steel/Tube of the international BENTELER Group. A total of 1,200 employees work here.

Joint investments to strengthen Schloß Neuhaus

BENTELER and the city of Paderborn have made extensive joint investments in the infrastructure of Schloß Neuhaus. For instance, BENTELER completed renovation work to the tune of EUR 325,000. 600 meters of pipework were laid to the transfer station at the Mühlenparkplatz parking lot, the property line. The city, on the other hand, laid an underground district heating pipeline with a length of approximately 1,400 meters. It runs from the Schlosspark area along the Marstallstraße street across the Kirchplatz square to the BENTELER factory premises. The city invested approx. EUR 650,000 in the pipeline and its integration into the existing district heat station. Moreover, the project included extensive infrastructure modernization in the Schlosspark area.

Collaboration planned for the long term

“Sustainability is an important part of our corporate strategy. We demonstrate active social commitment as a responsible partner at our production locations. This applies to both the collaboration between the city and our company and our handling of precious resources,” explains Christian Wiethüchter.

“This project is a great example of how collaboration of business and municipal administration can lead to tailor-made, local climate protection solutions,” says Mayor Michael Dreier. “Even historical buildings like the Schloss Neuhaus castle can now be heated in a future-proof, climate-friendly way. We are pleased by the plans for long-term collaboration with BENTELER,” Dreier continues. The use of waste heat is another important step in the climate protection plan of the city of Paderborn.

Award for BENTELER’s dedication to climate protection

BENTELER is aware of its environmental responsibility and actively works toward improving the company’s ecological footprint. Moreover, BENTELER has dedicated itself to climate and resource protection. In 2018, the project “Waste heat supply” allowed BENTELER Steel/Tube to become part of “KlimaExpo.NRW”, an initiative of the state government of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW). They recently recognized the entire company’s dedication to climate protection and awarded BENTELER the title “Pacesetter of the exhibition KlimaExpo.NRW”.

Paderborn’s climate protection plan – working together for our climate

“With the comprehensive climate protection plan adopted in the summer of 2016, Paderborn has seized an opportunity to involve inhabitants and local players in designing a strategy for more climate protection in the municipal area. In addition to increasing the percentage of renewable energy used in the city's power and heat supply, the municipal climate protection plan also includes another important goal: increasing the resource and energy efficiency in the business sector. This represents a crucial factor for climate protection.

In late 2016, the city of Paderborn received the international quality management certification European Energy Award (eea) for its dedication to municipal climate action.