IWB to decommission distribution network for natural gas by 2037
Basel - Basel-Stadt will bis 2037 aus der fossilen Wärmeversorgung aussteigen. Deshalb beendet die IWB bis dahin die Versorgung mit Erdgas. Ein Teil der 11‘000 mit Erdgas versorgten Liegenschaften kann ins Fernwärmenetz einbezogen werden. Für 3200 Liegenschaften werden Alternativen gesucht.
The canton of Basel-Stadt has decided to phase out fossil fuel heating by 2037. IWB currently supplies just under 11,000 properties in Basel, Bettingen and Riehen with natural gas. Of these, 9,000 use natural gas for heating.
According to an IWB statement, 5800 properties can be connected to an existing or planned district heating network. For the remaining properties, alternatives must be sought. These could be heat pumps or pellet heating.
About 2000 properties use natural gas for cooking. Therefore, about 14,000 gas cookers must be converted to electric cookers.
IWB wants to decommission its natural gas network gradually, basically at the end of the respective service life. The first shutdowns are planned for 2026 and 2027. After that, around 1000 connections are to be taken off the grid each year.
The canton supports the changeover to heat pumps, wood heating systems or heating networks with subsidies. For gas systems that have not yet been amortised, it also pays compensation for residual values. The canton expects to pay a maximum of 80.4 million francs for such compensation and bridging solutions.