Deal imminent

Rohrbach: Heating plant to be sold to Carinthia

In Rohrbach, heat is generated from biomass, specifically from wood chips. Soon from the Carinthian Kelag?(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

It's a big topic in the district of Rohrbach: the operators of the biomass heating plant in Rohrbach-Berg have apparently decided to sell their plant - including the pipeline network for heat supply. What this means for customers is still unclear.

According to reports, the Carinthian state energy supplier Kelag, which is largely owned by the state of Carinthia, is interested in the plant. Clean Energy Rohrbach-Berg GmbH, which operates the combined heat and power plant, is said to be at an advanced stage of negotiations and the contracts are apparently about to be signed. Nobody can answer why the energy supplier from Carinthia is interested in the plant in the middle of the Mühlviertel and not the Upper Austrian Energie AG. 

Carinthia already bought in Upper Austria years ago
What is interesting in this context, however, is that Kelag has already gone on a shopping spree in another town in the district of Rohrbach and in the district of Steyr Land. The subsidiary Kelag Energie & Wärme GmbH purchased the biomass systems in Haslach and Sierning in 2019/2020.

It is not yet clear how the deal will affect customers in the energy sector. "We don't know whether it will be more expensive or cheaper," said consumers of energy from the Rohrbach-Berg combined heat and power plant in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper, demanding answers from the operator or the future owners.