Modern energy center in the new hospital in Uster, Switzerland

Modern energy center in the new Uster hospital

General information

Energie Uster AG moves and animates the city of Uster reliably and safely with electricity, gas, water and heat. The products are continuously adapted to the market and customer needs as well as to national, cantonal and municipal energy targets. Energie Uster is meeting this challenge with new heating solutions, among other things.

In 2020, the go-ahead was given for the construction of the Uster Nord heating network - one of the largest heating networks in the Zurich Oberland.

Energie Uster has implemented a modern energy center with two Schmid boilers, a UTSR-2000 visio and a UTSR-900 visio, in the new ambulance service building of the Uster hospital. The two boiler are operated with wood chips from Uster and supply not only the new hospital but also other properties in the Uster North area. The plant was equipped with a flue gas condenser, a wet electrostatic precipitator and a dehumidification system from IS SaveEnergy. Thus, the heating center of Energie Uster AG is on a high level regarding ecology and efficiency.

The challenge of installation

The heating center is located underground in the same building as the entire emergency service, including a parking garage for ambulances, offices and the emergency organization's sleeping quarters. The insertion of the equipment, which weighs a total of 51 tons, required precision work, as it had to be transported to the basement via a silo cover as part of the construction phase.

Project planning and implementation

The entire heat generation systems for the Uster Nord heating network were awarded in a tender in accordance with cantonal submission law. The bid submitted by Hälg & Co. AG, St. Gallen, together with Schmid AG, energy solutions as subcontractor, proved to be the economically better offer, taking into account the award criteria specified in the tender documents.

The entire project was planned and implemented by Hälg & Co. AG, St. Gallen planned and implemented. Thus, Hälg & Co. AG was the contact during the installation and commissioning of the Schmid boilers, which were carried out on schedule and in good quality.

"Since the commissioning of the Uster Nord heating network, the two woodchip heating systems have shown no noteworthy malfunctions and exhibit very good operational availability. To date, over 92 % of the heat generated has been produced fromCO₂-neutral wood. The contractual requirement of our heating customers for the renewable quality of the heat supply of at least 80 % has thus already been significantly exceeded in the first year of operation." Romeo Comino, Head of Networks and Member of the Executive Board, Energie Uster AG

area of application
District heating

fuel
Wood chips

type of combustion system
Moving grate furnace
UTSR-2000.42-1 visio and USTR-900.42-1

Control
PersonalTouch

Capacity Total
2000 kW and 900 kW

Discharge / Silo
Moving floor / 470 m3 (net volume)

Exhaust gas dedusting
Wet-electrostatic precipitator

_{CO2 substitution}
approx. 2,682 tons CO2/year

Savings heating oil
approx. 900,000 liters of heating oil per year

In operation since
Woodchip boiler 1 from 01.07.2022
Woodchip 2 from 09.11.2022)