The 500 temporary modular homes that Adapteo is responsible for building on a leased plot at Lalandia in Rødbyhavn must be connected to district heating. It will cost 1,34 million euros in connection fees and subscription. Adateo gets nothing for that money, as the modular homes are supplied via heat pumps, electric water heaters, and solar cells, and this causes frustration for the project manager from Adapteo, Jens Schmidt:
Building application with challenges
– We have a building application in progress, but we are facing some challenges. We knew well from the local plan that district heating was mandatory. Still, we expected to be able to get a dispensation when it was temporary construction, says Jens Schmidt from Adapteo, who is the project manager on the Rødby project.
At first glance, however, it appears that such a dispensation will cost at least as much as connecting the building to the district heating network. The local plan is pretty clear:
Must be connected to Rødbyhavn District Heating
The local plan area must be supplied with district heating. The local plan stipulates that it is a prerequisite that new buildings are connected to Rødbyhavn District Heating before they are put into use, the local plan states.
No need to use district heating
However, Adapteo does not need to heat the 500 homes with district heating. The building just needs to be connected to the district heating network:
However, the provision does not prevent, with permission from the Lolland Municipality, the establishment of a supplementary energy supply in the form of solar energy systems such as solar collectors or solar cells, geothermal systems, etc. The local plan continues.
– But then we have to pay a price of 1,34 million euros over ten years without getting a delivery, and that doesn’t make sense, says Jens Schmidt.
Low-energy buildings can be dispensed
However, there is one catch for exemption from the district heating obligation. However, it requires that the buildings are built as a low-energy building in accordance with the provisions of the building regulations.
According to Jens Schmidt from Adapteo, the heat pumps in all 500 temporary homes must be upgraded to the so-called SCOP 5. This means that the heat pump produces five kWh of heat for every kWh of electricity it consumes. Post-insulation of each home can also come into question before they can be approved as low-energy buildings according to the building regulations. And according to Jens Schmidt, it will also cost a larger sum of millions:
Investing 26,9 million
– We have a business case for this, and we are going to invest 26,9 million euros in that camp. So 1,34 million is sort of our bottom line money. Then we have to count on whether the business case holds up, says Jens Schmidt.
FemernReport has been in contact with the Lolland Municipality’s management and technical and environmental authority. They say that the relevant case handlers are on vacation, but that there are no immediate decisions in the case in the municipality’s case processing system.
FemernReport will follow up on the case next week.
