MURREAL: Murtaler Reallabor - On the way to 100% renewable energy by 2040
Short Description
Initial situation and motivation
The Styrian district of Murtal with its 20 municipalities is an industrial region that has mastered the change to high-tech enterprises well, with a rural surrounding area rich in raw materials. The renewable energy supply is high with biomass, hydropower, wind and solar energy. The energy demand of industry is also above average. This poses special challenges for an energy transition. The exploratory project MURREAL addresses these challenges by creating a development path for a real laboratory.
Content and objectives
Within the framework of the exploratory project MURREAL, development paths, synergies and business models for the implementation of a real laboratory were worked out, which should consistently accelerate the path towards 100% renewable energy and climate neutrality by 2040.
Methodology
Innovations were created by combining different methods and instruments. A cross-sectoral energy system was designed taking into account the available renewable energy potentials and waste heat. A simulation was carried out using load profiles from the different consumers (buildings, processes and mobility) and different renewable producers (biomass/biogas, solar, wind and hydro). Different scenarios were evaluated according to various aspects such as energy economics, greenhouse gas emissions, regional value creation and security of supply. In the work with the actors, the method of the "Theory of Change" was used.
Results
The direct substitution of fossil fuels by renewable energies alone does not bring supply stability, or high overcapacities would have to be built due to weather dependency, and this would be complex and expensive. Therefore, special attention was paid to an efficient interaction of different technologies in the areas of heat, electricity and fuels - also called sector coupling. The energy supply from wind and sun is weather-dependent and fluctuating, and consumers also generate peak loads at different times. Biomass as an energy source and energy consumer in practically all sectors (e.g. electric heating, air conditioning, e-cars, ...) can be shifted in time to increase security of supply. Possibilities for load control and flexibilisation in the sectors e-mobility, businesses, housing, as well as energy production from biomasses were presented and discussed.
The wood value chain is particularly pronounced in the Murtal, ranging from raw materials to sawing, pulp and paper to innovative products. In the Wood Innovation Centre, partners are working on further expansion in the direction of bioeconomy and circular economy. Through cascading use - material before energy - a particularly high resource efficiency can be achieved. A unique feature is the use of waste heat from Zellstoff Pöls AG, which is piped via a district heating system in the Aichfeld conurbation from Pöls via Judenburg, Fohnsdorf, Zeltweg and Spielberg to Knittelfeld. In Zeltweg, a biomass heating plant supplies additional heat to the grid, which also has a large storage system. The connection of further businesses and waste heat potentials were analysed and evaluated, as well as a sector coupling with a biomass gasification with BTL / BTG. An operation of BTL/BTG as well as CHP plants limited to the heating period enables a considerable increase in waste heat utilisation and saves biomass at the same time.
In addition to the extensive exploration of the technical dimension (including spatial planning aspects), the organisational dimension (especially the work with actors, but also knowledge management, networking and communication) as well as the financial dimension for a possible real laboratory were also examined.
Outlook
This exploratory project thus forms the basis for the submission and application for a five-year implementation phase as MURREAL real laboratory, with the instrument of the Leitprojekt (and possibly also with the instrument of the Innovationslabor).
Project Partners
Project management
Josef Bärnthaler / Energieagentur Obersteiermark GmbH
Project or cooperation partners
- DI Petra Busswald
akaryon GmbH - DI Dr. Hartmut Dumke, DI Daniel Youssef
Technische Universität Wien Institut für Raumplanung - DI Dr. Lore Abart-Heriszt, DI Franz Huber
Universität für Bodenkultur Wien Institut für Raumplanung, Umweltplanung und Bodenordnung (IRUB) - Mag. Michael Eder
STRATECO OG - DI Hannah Politor, DI Dr. Stefan Kirchweger
STUDIA-Schlierbach Studienzentrum für Internationale Analysen - Dr. Günter Wind
Wind - Ingenieurbüro für Physik
Contact Address
Energieagentur Obersteiermark GmbH
Holzinnovationszentrum 1a
A-8740 Zeltweg
Tel.: +43 (03577) 266 64-0
E-mail: office@eao.st
Web: www.eao.st