A lot of people take waste at face value and consider it to be nothing more than just rubbish. In the case of the MHKW Rothensee waste-to-energy plant, however, waste is a valuable energy source. The energy produced during the incineration process is used to generate green electricity and heat by means of combined heat and power generation and fed into the grid of the public utility company Städtische Werke Magdeburg (SWM). The electricity is classified as green electricity because the majority of the waste processed at the MHKW Rothensee consists of biogenic material. Since 2005, the waste delivered to the plant has been used to generate green electricity for more than 40,000 households. As a result, the plant saves huge amounts of fossil fuels, for example 18,000 tons of fuel oil every year.
Our green electricity and district heat save
40 million tons
of climate-damaging fossil CO₂ every year.
The waste delivered to the MHKW Rothensee, for example commercial waste, residual waste or bulky waste, is categorised based on a waste code in accordance with the German Waste Catalogue Ordinance (AVV). A certain percentage of biogenic waste is assigned to this waste code. The electricity generated from the biogenic waste is examined by an expert and certified in the Proof of Origin Register for Green Electricity (Herkunftsnachweisregister für Ökostrom) of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA).
With this certification, the UBA confirms that the electricity was generated from renewable energies and monitors its marketing. The proof of origin for green electricity is therefore like a birth certificate, an electronic document that certifies where and how the electricity was generated and fed into the grid. As a result, the MHKW Rothensee receives precise proof of origin for every megawatt-hour of green electricity that it generates before this electricity is supplied to the Städtische Werke Magdeburg. The document is passed on to SWM for one-time use for fuel mix disclosure when selling electricity to its customers and consumers.
