As of: February 26, 2024, 6:08 p.m
By: Franziska Seliger
Comments
Press
Split
This is what it could look like: the front of the planned biomass heating plant for burning residual forest wood.
The new plant is intended to reduce CO2 emissions at the Penzberg site by 7,800 tons per year.
© Roche
The Penzberg building committee has approved a building application from the pharmaceutical company Roche for a biomass heating plant.
Construction is scheduled to begin in April.
Penzberg
– The biotech company Roche had already submitted the building application for a biomass heating plant to burn residual forest wood to the city of Penzberg in December last year.
At its most recent meeting, the Construction, Mobility and Environment Committee approved this building application unanimously and without discussions.
As reported, Roche wants to save 7,800 tons of CO2 per year with the biomass heating plant, which is to be built on part of the 13-hectare expansion area in the north of the factory site.
The heating plant will burn residual wood from forests within a 100-kilometer radius, as city architect Justus Klement said at the meeting.
According to the company, this includes, for example, residual wood from pests or storm damage that no longer has any other economic use, as well as wood that is produced as a waste product in sawmills.
The group also wants to build a new diagnostics production center on the expansion area.
The investment for this center, amounting to 600 million euros, is considered the largest single investment ever made in Penzberg.
The plant is intended to generate steam for production processes
According to Roche, it plans to invest 22 million euros in the new biomass heating plant.
The new building, which will be around 20 meters high on an area of 45 by 21 meters, is planned north of the existing wastewater treatment plant in the east of the plant's expansion area.
It is a technical building with a full floor and several vertical technical levels.
The system is intended to generate sustainable steam for production processes at the Penzberg site and will have a nominal heat output of around five megawatts.
According to the company, this means that a significant portion of the steam consumption at the site can be generated using residual forest wood.
Completion is planned for the end of 2025.
The groundbreaking ceremony should take place in April this year.
“The new building helps us replace fossil fuels with sustainable energy sources and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the site by around 18 percent per year,” explains plant manager Paul Wiggermann.
“In this way, we are making an important contribution to supporting the city’s climate goals and the group’s environmental goals.” According to the company, Roche wants to operate completely climate-neutrally by 2050.
The building application now goes to the district office as the approval authority.
Also read: Roche in Penzberg continues to grow - from Leap and gene therapy center to production building and power plant