Under the Swiss-Romanian Cooperation Programme the European Energy Award is being introduced in four Romanian pilot cities. The European Energy Award is a quality management and certification system for municipalities committed to sustainable municipal energy, climate and transport policies. It is based on the label “Energy City”, which has originally been developed in Switzerland. Arad, a city of 148'000 inhabitants located at the Mures River in the northwest of Romania, is one of four selected pilot cities. Based on its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) it has identified the rehabilitation of the district heating network as a priority infrastructure project. The project aims at protecting the environment through reduced emissions of climate-effecting gases. With the rehabilitation and re-dimensioning of the district heating system, an optimal energy mix is introduced and heat produced effectively and based on demand.

The project consists in the replacement of old, worn-out heat transport pipes in four sections of Arad as well as the replacement of the Aradul Nou thermal substation by a partially biomass fired heat production plant. This also includes the replacement of the old four-pipe distribution network by a modern two-pipe distribution network with individual block-heating modules.

The direct beneficiaries are the Municipality of Arad and the municipality owned utility, CET Hidrocarburi, which will benefit from a budget relief. The indirect beneficiaries are the 1817 inhabitants of Aradul Nou, and more generally the 82'000 inhabitants of Arad, who will benefit from a more reliable and more affordable thermal energy supply as well as an improved environment.

• Rehabilitation of 14.6 km of district heating transport and distribution network through the replacement of old pipes and hot water supply pipes with pre-insulated pipes (reducing heat and water losses) as well as through the application of variable speed pumps (reducing pumping power consumption).
• Transformation of a thermal station (Aradoul Nou) into a Heat only Boiler (HoB) plant with an installed capacity of 4 MW, of which the base load (2 MW) shall be produced with biomass (woodchips).
• Installation of remote reading and control facilities.

Résultats obtenus:  

• Switzerland was obliged to withdraw the financial support to the project due to lengthy procurement procedures and limited progress. No results can be reported.

Phase 10 16.07.2015 - 18.11.2018   (Completed)