Sector
Renewable energies (biomass)
Date of investment
2015
Status
Disinvested
Contact
The Móstoles district heating system uses biomass and natural gas to provide hot water and heating in the city of Móstoles, with a maximum demand of 42 GWh per year and a consumption of 10,000 tonnes of biomass per year. The project contributes to replacing fossil fuels with local renewable energy sources to provide heating and hot water, reducing annual emissions by 13,200 tonnes of CO2 eq.
Energy demand for heating and cooling accounts for more than 50% of total energy demand in Europe, with space heating being the main source of heat demand in the residential and tertiary sectors. Currently, the vast majority of demand is met by fossil fuel-based systems (mainly gas and oil boilers), and only 0.2% of demand is met by renewable energy district heating in Spain (compared to 30% in the Nordic countries).
District heating is a centralised energy generation and supply system that allows the use of biomass as the main fuel, which is often not used in distributed heating systems due to space, price and supply chain constraints.
This district heating project uses biomass and natural gas to supply hot water and heating, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, CO2 emissions and air pollution through the use of gas cleaning systems. The project supports the sustainable management of PEFC-certified Spanish forests, promoting local employment and reducing the incidence of forest fires
This technology offers residential consumers cost-effective heating options and competitive prices, while reducing dependence on fossil fuels and import needs, benefiting society as a whole.
The socio-environmental impact resulted in 20,000 MWh/year avoided; 330,000 tonnes of CO2eq/year avoided, as well as 27% energy savings.
Inadequate treatment and conversion of biomass to energy can have negative impacts on pollution prevention and control. However, the project has adequately managed these impacts by installing gas cleaning systems that significantly limit particulate emissions.
