Maribor, Slovenia

In Slovenia's second-largest city, too, people are rolling up their sleeves for a climate-friendly future – and opening up the funding coffers: in the traditional district of Lent in Maribor, a new heating plant has been built on behalf of district heating provider Energetika Maribor, which is powered by local wood chips. Since April 2025, a 5-megawatt hot water boiler from BINDER Energietechnik has been providing climate-friendly heat there – reliably, efficiently and with a strong regional focus.

A significant step toward decarbonization

The investment of around € 3.7 million was largely funded by the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Energy, as well as through funds from the Economic Stimulus and Resilience Mechanism – over € 1.3 million came from this public funding source. "Without this support, a project of this magnitude would have been virtually impossible to realize. My special thanks go to the entire team at the ministry", said Gregor Makovec, director of the implementing subsidiary Energija in okolje, in his opening speech. Construction of the heating plant began in July 2024 and was completed on schedule. The new facility comprises a 14-metre-high building with a floor space of 700 m². In addition to the boiler room with state-of-the-art technology, it also houses a storage room for wood biomass and a sophisticated conveyor system for supplying wood chips.

Ecologically sound - economically stable

The mayor of Maribor, Aleksander Saša Arsenovič, is also convinced: “The construction of a wood biomass boiler is an important step toward sustainable development and a key element on the path to renewable energy sources. The plant not only reduces our carbon footprint, but also strengthens the local economy by relying on domestic biomass resources.” The new infrastructure will supply around 15,000 MWh of heat per year in the future. This corresponds to 10–15% of Energetika Maribor's total annual heat production – with a corresponding impact on the city's carbon footprint. Aleksander Saša Arsenovič also emphasizes that district heating projects like this are not only environmentally sound, but also economically forward-looking: "Of course, every investment initially affects first the fixed cost portion of the bill. But what is much more important is that the fixed heat price remains stable – even when other energy prices rise."

More than just hot air: A look into the heart of the system

At the heart of the new heating plant in Lent is a hot water boiler from BINDER Energietechnik with a rated output of 5 megawatts. The hot water boiler is integrated into the existing district heating network, which supplies heat to over 13,800 connection points in Maribor. The heart of the system is a vertical combustion chamber with an integrated hot water heat exchanger, which is completely surrounded by water that also helps to cool the fireclay. This significantly extends the service life of the fireclay and thus reduces maintenance costs. The fuel is fed via a cross conveyor with a push cone, which ensures reliable height bridging between the fuel storage and the combustion chamber. This design ensures even and efficient feeding of wood chips – and thus continuous, stable plant operation.

Supply air fans are used to ensure clean and efficient combustion, automatically adjusting the air flow to the respective operating conditions. Automatic compressed air cleaning of the heat exchanger tubes ensures high efficiency at all times and minimizes maintenance requirements.

Flue gas cleaning by a multi-cyclone dust collector and an electrostatic precipitator minimizes emissions, while ash removal via conveyor systems reduces maintenance requirements. A belt-driven flue gas fan ensures the necessary negative pressure and safe exhaust gas discharge, which supports the long-term reliability of the system—perfectly suited for precise temperature control and reliable continuous operation.

Consistently moving toward climate goals

Further projects are already in the pipeline, as the mayor confirms: “The Energetika Maribor group will continue to focus on the implementation of new production units based on renewable sources – wood biomass, waste heat utilisation, and energy recovery from municipal waste. In doing so, we are following the European targets for comprehensive decarbonisation.”

Learn more about BINDER Energietechnik.