Billund Varmeværk is facing a rather large investment – on 30 April, the first sod is broken on the construction of a new heating plant at Rugmarken in Billund.
We had a chat with director Jens Enevoldsen about what has all happened at Billund Varmeværk in the past year, and not least what is to happen.
When Jens Enevoldsen took over as director 1 1/2 years ago, he came without remote management experience, as he came from the wastewater industry. The first thing he looked into was; What is the size of Billund Varmeværk? Where are the operational challenges? and what are the customers' needs?
Jens Enevoldsen explains: "We looked into all these boxes, and at an early stage involved Billund Erhverv, who was involved as an active part of the process - because they wanted to include the needs of the profession in the equation, and via Billund Erhverv could we enter into a dialogue with the business community.” He continues: "It turned out that there were many different needs, but what they all had in common was that it was definitely not a problem if the district heating became greener, for some it was even a requirement - so it suited the direction we had set.”
A growing heating plant
Billund Varmeværk had and has a good influx of new customers, and grows annually by approx. 10% Jens Enevoldsen calls the number quite spoiled when it comes to heating plants. "With the increased influx of customers, we must of course also be able to produce more, and combined with a worn-out production apparatus and the business world's desire for greener district heating, a possible expansion was the natural next step that we had to look into," explains Jens and elaborates: "With the setup we had we were fairly locked in - the plant on Højmarksvej was locked in in terms of area and could not be expanded, so we knew that we would probably have to dismantle it soon, Møllevej is also about to be landlocked, i.e. closed off in relation to area expansion and both works also challenge the logistics in relation to e.g. biomass and electricity – just to mention a few individual things. But luckily we have a plant out on the Rye Field, and there we could get pretty much all the energy we could use - so we knew pretty quickly where our new plant would be located."
With an extension of the plant on Rugmarksvej and a new transmission line to Højmarksvej, it will be possible to supply the entire city with heat, as well as future-proofing, so that you are ready to supply an airport expansion and the establishment of new industry. "We thought at the time that what we were planning was a bit oversized - but it has turned out not to be. It matches quite well the future Billund is looking into.” it comes from Jens Enevoldsen.
Common direction with BMC
When Jens Enevoldsen came to Billund Varmeværk, it was together with 2 other new employees in the management. The management team then consisted of 4 people with very different backgrounds, and they now had to find common ground and direction.
Together with a business developer from Billund Erhverv, they created a Business Model Canvas. "It was a really good exercise for us," says Jens Enevoldsen and concludes: "The fact that we sat down around a table to find out how this store actually works in a district heating segment gave us a common understanding of , what tasks there were.”
The new heating plant at Rugmarken is scheduled to be completed by the 2025/26 heating season and will cost DKK 300 million. DKK
The plant will be ready for the volatile electricity market of the future with an increased heat accumulation tank of 10.000M3
If you want to know more about Business Model Canvas, contact business developer Lars Gadgaard on 9215 1142 and lg@billunderhverv.dk
