Weichenwerk Wörth GmbH, a joint venture between voestalpine and ÖBB Infrastruktur, is dedicated to climate protection – in the future, part of the electricity needed at the St. Pölten location will be generated from solar energy.
In cooperation with Weichenwerk Wörth GmbH, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG is installing a photovoltaic system on one of the plant roofs in St. Pölten. In the future, part of the energy demand will be covered by electricity generated on site from solar energy.
Long-term partnership – double power for the climate
As early as October 2000, voestalpine Turnout Technology Zeltweg GmbH, a company of the voestalpine Railway Systems Group, and ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG combined their know-how in the field of turnout technology and founded Weichenwerk Wörth GmbH (WWG). Energy consumption at the site is now to become even more sustainable. After converting the lighting systems in the plant to LED and a thermal refurbishment of all buildings with a corresponding reduction of heat demand in 2013/14, the first steps are taken towards CO2-neutral coverage of electricity demand.
Step by step to renewable energy
ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG is installing a photovoltaic system on one of the plant roofs, which will cover around 15% of the plant's annual electricity requirements.
And this is how it works: A total of 588 panels with a total area of around 1,000 m² and a total output of 200 kWp are installed on the factory roof. The turnout plant in St. Pölten can thus cover its own annual demand of around 135,000 kWh - which corresponds to the electricity requirements of around 34 average households. If all available roof surfaces are equipped with photovoltaic modules, the degree of self-generation can be increased to up to 80%.
