Wien Energy’s Spittelau waste incinerator is the biggest source on Vienna’s heating network.
Michaela Nagyidaiova/Bloomberg
Vienna Embraces Heat Pumps to Ditch Russian Gas
The Austrian capital has a $21 billion plan to end its dependence on imported natural gas with heat pumps, boreholes and energy efficiency.
In a vacant lot wedged between factories and high-rise apartment buildings on the outskirts of Vienna, engineers are sinking boreholes into the earth, probing toward a vast reservoir of boiling-hot water 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) below the Austrian capital.
“I’ve helicoptered into drilling sites and arrived on 4x4 vehicles,” said Bernhard Novotny, who heads the geothermal business at Austria’s state-owned energy company OMV AG, which manages drilling at the project site. “This is the first time I’m able to come to work on the subway.”