Author: Gunta Kalmane, Public Relations Specialist, Gulbene Municipality Council
Project LowTEMP partners from Latvia have started the reconstruction of an existing district heating system in Gulbene Municipality Beļava village. The new heating system will include heating for the parish administration building that houses also pre-school children’s groups, Beļava cultural house, a nearby apartment building, and the local store. It is planned to finish heating system reconstruction on November 1, 2018.
The heating system used until now is more than 40 years old, with a wood boiler and without necessary insulation. This created high heat losses, as a result making the cost of heating in the parish too high.
After implementing the pilot project, the “heart” of the new heating system will be a modern, self-acting pellet boiler with a pellet tank. Human involvement in the heat production process will be minimal. It should be noted that Gulbene Municipality Council has also built a completely new heating network for all of the objects mentioned above, including the replacement of the outdated DH infrastructure with a low temperature district heating grid, supplying low temperature heat.
The object in Beļava village is the northernmost and one of the most ambitious pilot projects implemented among all project partners during LowTemp. As all planned equipment units are already delivered and installed, Gulbene municipality is going to collect data in full capacity.
To evaluate activities on site, during the project Partner meeting in Latvia in the end of September 2018, LowTEMP partners from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania visited Gulbene Municipality, including the pilot project location in Beļava village. Project partners also visited a cogeneration station, hardwood furniture company SIA “Avoti SWF” and the granule factory in Lizums village. During this visit the non-waste principle used by business partners in Gulbene municipality was presented – wood processing waste from furniture production is used in the production of other products.
Project partners also appreciated the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulbene region.