Rheinmetall site in St. Leon-Rot to receive district heating system, saving up to 800 tonnes of CO2 per year

By installing a district heating system at the KS Gleitlager site in St. Leon-Rot (Rhein-Neckar district), the Rheinmetall Group will save up to 800 tonnes of CO2 per year in the future. The measure is significant for the reduction of harmful carbon dioxide emissions and for the increase in the sustainable use of resources – valuable contributions to achieving the Group's sustainability goals of operating CO₂-neutral by 2035.

This is made possible by the cooperation with the neighbouring SLR foundry, which was signed at the beginning of 2024. At the initiative of the foundry, which can only partially use the waste heat generated by its processes itself, a closed, underground circulation system with two water pipes is being created between the foundry and KS Gleitlager. In one pipe, water flows from the foundry to the KS Gleitlager technical centre at a temperature of around 80 degrees. There, the water releases the heat again – as energy for various production processes and, in the future, also for heating. The now cooled water returns to the foundry through the second pipe, where it is reheated in the production process. The system is scheduled to go into operation in September 2024. The project costs will have been amortised after just a few years.

This project alone will save Rheinmetall up to 800 tonnes of CO2 and gas costs amounting to a low six-figure sum. It is a win-win-win project: where the neighbouring foundry used to have to cool down the excess waste heat and release it into the environment, this company will also benefit financially in the future. A win-win situation for both sides of the cycle, and not least for the environment.

The SLR Group produces over 130,000 tonnes of machine parts in high-quality spheroidal graphite cast iron every year. The German foundry St. Leon-Rot GmbH, the parent company and headquarters of the SLR Group, was founded in 1981. The production site in St. Leon-Rot is home to a foundry.

The Rheinmetall subsidiary KS Gleitlager is known for its high-precision slide bearings, which are delivered worldwide from St. Leon-Rot. In addition to the production of primary materials with its own aluminium foundry and sintering plants, the production also includes highly complex forming processes and fully automatic testing systems for the final quality inspection. The economically producible batch sizes start at 1 and end in the millions. The St. Leon-Rot site employs around 560 people.