Leipzig district heating to come from Leuna in future

Leipzig's district heating will soon also come from Saxony-Anhalt. / Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa

Until now, Leipzig's district heating has largely come from the Lippendorf lignite-fired power plant. As this is soon to come to an end, alternatives are needed. One of these comes from the neighboring federal state.

In future, a large proportion of the apartments in Leipzig are to be heated using waste heat from the Leuna chemical park in Saxony-Anhalt. To this end, a 19-kilometer-long district heating line will be built from Leuna to Kulkwitz near Leipzig from August, as announced by Stadtwerke Leipzig. The district heating is expected to start flowing in 2028.

Construction of the route is expected to cost around 165 million euros. The federal government is providing funding of around 70 million euros from a program for efficient heating networks. Further costs of around 75 million euros will be incurred in Leuna for the extraction and feed-in of the heat.

Leuna to replace Lippendorf

Until now, Leipzig's district heating has mainly come from the Lippendorf lignite-fired power plant. This is to be decommissioned in 2035 as part of the coal phase-out. Leipzig City Council had voted to stop using district heating from Lippendorf much earlier. It was actually supposed to end in 2023. However, the contracts were extended due to the war in Ukraine and the subsequent gas crisis.

Waste heat from Leuna unused to date

The waste heat from the production processes at the Leuna refinery has not been used to date, it was said. The amount is sufficient to supply around 100,000 households in Leipzig with heat.

Because the district heating route runs through Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, two state authorities were involved in the planning. On Thursday, the State Directorate of Saxony and the State Administration Office of Saxony-Anhalt jointly gave the go-ahead for the project.

Leipzig district heating to come from Leuna in future

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