Eberswalde fire brigade receives district heating connection
On Thursday, 14 December 2023, the conversion of the heat generation system for the Eberswalde fire station was officially completed. The mayor of Eberswalde, Götz Herrmann, and head of the fire station, Helmut Colberg, symbolically turned the adjusting wheel to the stop. For the fire station in the district town, this marks the end of the old natural gas boiler and the connection to more climate-friendly district heating. For the town of Eberswalde, it is the beginning of a future-orientated supply of critical infrastructure.
The city of Eberswalde contributed to the construction costs with a grant totalling 119,000 euros. The city invested a total of 283,000 euros in this important project, and no subsidies had to be utilised. The energy service provider EWE operates one of a total of four combined heat and power plants in Eberswalde in the Finow district. In total, more than 8,000 flats as well as schools, daycare centres, public and private facilities, companies, the Gropius Hospital and now also the fire station in Finow are supplied with a total of 60 million kWh of district heating every year. "However, combined heat and power plants are only a transitional solution on the road to climate neutrality. In future, the heat supply will be decentralised with heat pumps and centralised with green district heating solutions. In Eberswalde, we are therefore investigating the integration of renewable energies into the district heating supply with the aim of generating and supplying CO₂-free heat by 2045," explains Stephan Krahn from energy service provider EWE.
"For the city of Eberswalde, it is an important investment in the future, also with regard to the climate adaptation concept for the city, which combines energy security with climate protection as an integrative strategy," as Götz Herrmann, as mayor, emphasised the importance of the district heating connection for the fire station. He emphasised that changes cannot be implemented overnight, but that comprehensive supply planning across the city must ensure that Eberswalde remains liveable in the future. Converting the heat generation for the fire station will reduce annual CO₂ emissions by an estimated 100 tonnes.
Photo: © City of Eberswalde/Markus Mirschel, from left to right Stephan Krahn, EWE; Jens Damer; Mandy Diekhoff, both Office for Building Construction and Building Management; members of the professional fire brigade, Helmut Colberg, watch commander and Götz Herrmann, mayor