With its historically evolved district heat grid, large number of heat sources in various ownership structures and the existing renewable energy-based heat generation plants, the community can be seen as a reference region for other towns in Germany and could serve, in future, as a role model for supplying climate-neutral district heat.

Whilst the scientific and technical foundations were laid in the previous “Wärmedrehscheibe” project, the follow-up project aims to implement the insights gained from this. To this end, the expansion of the district heat network is being scientifically monitored and evaluated.

The aim of the project is to expand the district heat grid of Stadtwerke Hennigsdorf (municipal utilities of Henningsdorf) into a multifunctional hub for heat from renewable energy sources. By the end of the project, the proportion of heat generated from renewable sources is to be expanded to approx. 80%. This means that the 2050 CO2 emission reduction targets would already have been achieved early on.

During the five-year project period, plants for using industrial and commercial waste heat are to be constructed, for instance in the local steelworks as well as in other industrial plants. The use of large-scale solar-thermal plants will also be tested and existing plants will be optimised for the heating network. Cogeneration plants will also be expanded, while at the same time increasing the amount of renewable resources used. Due to the volatility of heat generation in the steelworks and also in solar-thermal plants, surplus energy is to be temporarily buffered in a heat storage tank in the interim period, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the system. Since Hennigsdorf is a typical German town, the results of the “Wärmedrehscheibe II” project are to serve as a model for other towns.

The participants of the group project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) are Steinbeis Forschungs- und Innovationszentren GmbH, Solites Steinbeis Forschungsinstitut für solare und zukunftsfähige thermische Energiesysteme, Kraftwerks- und Projektentwicklungsgesellschaft Hennigsdorf mbH & Co. KG and Stadtwerke Hennigsdorf GmbH. The collaborative project is being funded under reference number 03ETS002 until 2022 by the BMWi.