Wilo officially inaugurates a sustainable energy system at its Hof site
A flagship project for industry, the region and climate action
Hof. By officially launching a new energy concept in Hof, Germany, the Wilo Group is driving forward the sustainable development of its sites. Together with representatives from the region’s political, business, academic and agricultural sectors, the water technology group celebrated the successful completion of a project that combines climate protection, security of energy supply and regional value creation.
“Sustainable transformation can only succeed if environmental responsibility, industrial competitiveness and innovative power in the field of technology are consistently considered together”, said Oliver Hermes, President & Global CEO of the Wilo Group. “The project in Hof is an impressive example of how a future-proof energy supply can be developed for manufacturing sites – through creativity, partnerships based on mutual respect and measurable impact.”
At the heart of the concept is the energy supply for the Wilo plant in Hof, which now uses heat derived exclusively from renewable raw materials. This is made possible by an integrated energy system comprising biogas heat and wood chip heating. In addition, around 60 per cent of the electricity demand is covered by renewable energy sources. In this way, Wilo is not only reducing the site’s CO₂ emissions by around 1,600 tonnes* a year, but also cutting its heating oil consumption from approximately 179,000 litres a year to zero.
The project was launched in 2023: Following a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony, a district heating pipeline approximately 1.3 kilometres long and new power supply infrastructure were constructed. Extensive modifications also had to be made to the production and building services systems. Wilo is cooperating closely with two farms in the immediate vicinity for the project. The biogas plant on a farm in the southwest of the factory uses slurry as feedstock. The woodchip heating system on a farm to the north makes use of wood residues from Wilo’s production process, which are processed into woodchips – around 300 tonnes annually.
During the inauguration ceremony, Georg Weber, Global CTO of the Wilo Group, explained how the project fits into the Group’s global sustainability strategy. Site Manager Thomas Lang presented the project results and details of the technical implementation. The new energy supply was symbolically commissioned in the presence of representatives from the political sphere and the local community.
* The reported CO₂ savings are based on a feasibility study covering the period from 2019 to 2022 and compare the current energy supply with a conventional energy supply based on fossil fuel. The study served as the starting point for the ongoing reduction of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
