On the waterfront – Berlin’s heat transition shows city-scale decarbonisation in action

One of the biggest and most complicated challenges in energy and sustainability (not to mention government policy, healthcare, and air quality) right now is how to successfully make the shift in how we heat and cool our urban areas to more sustainable alternatives.

One such option is in Berlin, which shows how innovative technologies are replacing fossil fuels and making sustainable heating a functioning reality.

At the heating plant in the Schöneweide district in the south east of the German capital, E.ON subsidiary BTB manages an innovative river water heat pump which extracts energy from the Spree River and provides a forward-thinking solution for district heating. As a comparison, imagine Greenwich Power Station in London being reinvented as a sustainable heat resource, tapping the Thames for its heat energy and pumping it into homes and businesses in south east London.

BTB extracts heat from the river, raises the temperature to over 90C using the heat pumps ready for the heating and cooling network which serves the 80,000 apartments, commercial properties, public institutions and industrial and research buildings in this part of the city. Once the water has gone through the network it is then cooled and returned to the Spree.

All told, this new technology means CO₂ savings of around 14,000 tonnes a year.

Recognising its impact, the UK’s Ambassador to Germany, Andrew Mitchell (pictured below), visited the site to learn more about such innovative solutions that are pioneering the future of sustainable heating in cities, and the potential of bringing such technological innovations to the UK.

🍃E.ON is at the heart of the clean energy transition, invested in the development of cutting-edge heat network technologies and city wide heat networks such as our City of London heat network, the development of the UK’s first ectogrid 5^th generation heat network in East London’s Royal Docks, and the plans to extend the Lower Don Valley network in Sheffield.

On the Berlin visit, we were able to take the Ambassador through some strong examples of UK-German collaboration and to discuss some of the new UK Heat Network Zoning regulations so we can accelerate the rollout of smart, efficient heating and cooling networks, future-proofing our energy systems and strengthening the UK’s leadership in clean energy innovation.

We were also able to outline the three specific elements to German government policy when it comes to decarbonising heat. Firstly capital grants which support investment in new assets – with water source heat pumps attracting 40% grants to inspire new technologies.

The second element is similar to the UK’s now-closed Renewable Heat Incentive which was a method to reduce the cost of the electricity that powers the heat pumps to provide more of an incentive compared to fossil fuels. The final element is a plan to tax the carbon content of heating in future, meaning cleaner fuels and heating sources are prioritised in new investment decisions.

Cities will need support to decarbonise their large scale heat networks and this is what the German government is doing to support that transition, both in terms of the capital investment for the infrastructure and in terms of the ongoing support to make sure cleaner sources are fairly compared with gas heating.

It is clear the transformation of our heat supply to a cleaner, more sustainable system – one that reduces our reliance on fossil fuels – requires long-term planning, innovative technologies and cooperative partnerships.

Why is this so important? Heating and cooling are responsible for a significant share of global emissions (the International Energy Agency estimates heating in buildings is responsible for 10% of global emissions) so scaling low-carbon heat solutions through the growth of city-wide heat networks is essential, not just to achieving net-zero but also in unlocking new investment, economic growth, and creating new opportunities for employment.

The installation of heat networks can also bring significant community benefits. For example new cycle paths, tree planting, greener spaces and new jobs and skills.

🌿Now is the time to invest in sustainable heat and cooling, scale up green technologies, and build the workforce of the future.