Hamburg launches climate-neutral district heating project

InfrastructureNews

Hamburg has launched a climate-neutral district heating project as part of which it started drilling for an underground heat storage.

City authorities headed by Mayor of Hamburg Peter Tschentscher pointed out that the project will make industrial waste heat usable by storing it in an aquifer thermal energy storage.

Waste heat will be pumped into the storage in the hottest part of the year and pumped up in the winter to feed the district heating system.

According to city authorities, the move will cut CO₂ emissions roughly 1,400 tonnes annually, with Hamburg’s Senator for the Environment Jens Kerstan stressing that the project is an important part of the city’s energy transition.

“Hamburg is ambitious when it comes to projects like this one,” he noted and pointed out that, in this case, environmental protection meets energy security.

Kirsten Fust, head of Hamburger Energiewerke utility, announced the company will continue to increase the share of green energy in the district heating network.

She reminded that demand for heating in Hamburg is high in the winter and noted that the project could help the city to make use of industrial waste heat by storing it underground. “In this way, we do not lose any valuable CO₂-free waste heat for our heat supply,” Fust concluded.

City authorities pointed out that implementation of the project will depend on tests that will be carried out after drilling is completed.

(Photo credit: Hamburger Energiewerke)