Heat in transition:
Opportunities for industry and municipalities

Germany’s heating networks are to be climate-neutral by 2045. To this end, cities and municipalities are examining the expansion of district heating networks and decentralized local heating concepts. In many places, municipal heating planning is in progress or has already been completed. Energy sources in the immediate vicinity of consumers are particularly in demand – for example, data centers or industrial plants that produce waste heat. About us, this heat can be transferred to the heat pipe system via a heat exchanger and either fed into the existing power plant or into a small network for nearby consumption points. Alternative heat sources such as air, geothermal energy and water can also be used with the aid of large heat pumps. This type of heat supply saves space and fossil fuels – a smart solution for densely populated areas.

Some large industrial sites already use their waste heat for downstream processes in the network and to heat adjacent office or residential complexes. However, not every location uses all of its waste heat. This opens up opportunities for economic cooperation with municipal utilities and local authorities, which receive federal funding to put their heat planning into practice.

Another promising starting point for cooperation between industry and municipal utilities is the promotion of the expansion of renewable Energy. In order to implement these projects economically, energy producers need reliable industrial customers. In Stuttgart, for example, a hydrogen pipeline is being built to link Esslingen and Stuttgart. Industrial companies could be suitable partners and reliable customers for such projects. This would not only support the municipal utilities’ projects, but also make their own energy supply more climate-friendly – a win-win situation that saves money.

Physics cannot be tricked: every energy conversion produces forms of energy that are difficult or impossible to use, i.e. initially “lost” energy that is often not used further. This contributes to a lower efficiency of the resources used. Decarbonization and the use of waste heat have therefore been on the agenda of industrial companies for some time. Rising Energy and CO₂ costs as well as legal requirements make it even more urgent. It is time to initiate transformation processes. Closer cooperation between industry, municipal utilities and local authorities is paying off – especially as the demand for climate-friendly heating is gaining momentum with the political debate. More and more people want to connect their buildings to the heating network. Municipal utilities are already facing a flood of inquiries, as one of our customers told us.

In this context, industry can and should act both as a supplier and a consumer of climate-friendly heat. However, the expansion and transformation of heating networks is primarily in the hands of municipal utilities and local authorities. Even in the initial phase of a project, they must keep an eye on decisive factors, in particular Funding Management and the complex approval procedures, which vary depending on EU, federal or state funding. At the same time, it is crucial to bring all relevant stakeholders on board and establish a solid project organization and precise scheduling.

Professional Project Management is essential here – especially when it comes to mastering the complex processes surrounding subsidies and the coordination of various players. In this role, we moderate the cooperation between industry, municipal utilities and local authorities to ensure that the expansion of climate-neutral heating progresses without obstacles.