Barox District Heating Network for the Swiss Municipality of Eischoll

On the way to becoming an energy-self-sufficient mountain village. With the construction of its own wood chip plant and a second hydroelectric power plant, the future-oriented Swiss municipality of Eischoll has set important milestones for the energy transition and is on its way to becoming a financially independent, energy-self-sufficient mountain village. barox supports them in this endeavor.

In the wood chip plant, which Eischoll Energie AG built in 2012, wood from regional forests is centrally combusted. With the heat generated, the energy provider supplies more than 80 households in the small mountain community. This annually substitutes 400,000 liters of oil and saves 1,050 tons of CO₂ emissions.

barox enables communication between households and the district heating center via a district heating network spanning more than five kilometers. Thanks to barox components such as media converters and switches, as well as fiber optic cables, the heat consumption of each individual building is transmitted to the wood chip plant, so that the required amount of wood can be burned there. In addition, energy meters are read via the network, allowing Eischoll Energie AG to generate energy cost statements for the residents of the village simply and automatically. Another advantage of the barox installation is that technicians can access the network online in case of malfunctions to locate and resolve the problem. “barox is a specialist partner that offers not only products but also excellent service. The technical department constantly advises us during operation. If anything doesn’t work, there are competent contacts who can help. There are not many manufacturers or suppliers in Switzerland that offer these solutions in conjunction with such good support. This service is barox’s major unique selling proposition,” says Johann Eberhardt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eischoll Energie AG.

In the eight years since the construction and completion of the central plant, the district heating network has been continuously expanded. Each year, newly built or renovated houses are added and connected to the network. “That’s why we have increasingly collaborated with barox again this year. Eight years is a long time in technology; some components are no longer the same, even on the heating side, and compatibility must be ensured,” explains Johann Eberhardt. barox selected compatible components and helped configure them on-site.

However, not only was the district heating network expanded over the years, but Eischoll Energie AG also completed the construction of a second hydroelectric power plant in 2014, which complements the existing small hydropower plant. To monitor and manage it online, barox integrated the power plant into the same network with just a few components – as well as the municipality’s drinking water reservoir monitoring. “We were able to integrate all municipal-related operations into the network. It has been shown that the system is expandable and very flexible,” says Johann Eberhardt.