Local authorities in Germany will have to realign their heating supply in the coming years. They need to assess gas and district heating networks, estimate future energy requirements and develop ways to achieve a low-CO2 supply. In practice, administrations are often faced with a complex data situation. Information on buildings, energy consumption or network infrastructure is available in different systems and can only be merged to a limited extent.
The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) is now presenting a study that examines the use of so-called urban digital twins in municipal heating planning. The BBSR is a research institute within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) based in Bonn. According to the institute, digital models can spatially map cities and their energy infrastructure and thus support planning processes.
The publication "Urban digital twins in heat planning" was produced as part of the accompanying research for the Smart Cities model projects funding program. The BBSR acts as publisher. According to the BBSR, the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) developed the guide. Digital models bundle data According to the study, digital twins link spatial, technical and organizational data of a municipality. For example, they can show where in a city a particularly large amount of heat is needed, how networks are routed or which energy sources are suitable for individual neighborhoods. This allows different scenarios for the future heat supply to be compared.
According to the BBSR, the study is based on data from 189 municipalities. In spring 2025, these had already drawn up a municipal heating plan or were working on one. According to the institute, the analysis shows that digital twins are primarily used in the early planning phases. Municipalities use them, for example, for stocktaking, potential analyses or to develop target scenarios.
Many cities and municipalities use external service providers for this. At the same time, according to the study, the benefits of digital models depend heavily on how well they fit in with a municipality's existing databases, human resources and technical structures. The applications range from simple visualizations to more complex simulations of possible development paths. Practical examples from cities and regions The study describes four examples that show different approaches. According to the BBSR, the city of Munich, for example, uses a digital twin to carry out internal analyses and simulations. According to the study, these evaluations form a basis for strategic decisions in heat planning.
In Halle (Saale), the administration works with an externally developed model. In particular, this visualizes building stocks and evaluates energy consumption. According to the study, this gives planners an overview of the heating requirements of individual districts.
The district of Lörrach takes an inter-municipal approach. Several municipalities access a shared database here. According to the BBSR, such an approach can relieve the burden on smaller municipalities because they do not have to set up their own systems. The study also looks at Zurich as an international example. According to the study, the focus there is on clearly regulated responsibilities within the administration and sovereignty over the data used. Gradual introduction recommended The authors of the study advise local authorities not to immediately set up digital twins in full complexity. A clearly defined use case could make it easier to get started. At the beginning, basic data sets and simple visualizations are often sufficient. Additional functions such as detailed analyses or simulations can be added later.
According to the BBSR, this step-by-step approach can help to keep heat planning manageable, even if staff and time in the administrations are limited. At the same time, the task is gaining in importance due to legal requirements. The federal and state governments are obliging municipalities to systematically plan their heat supply.
"Urban digital twins help municipalities to bring heat planning from the abstract data level into the concrete urban space," says BBSR project manager Ralf Schüle from the institute's "Digital City, Risk Prevention and Transport" department. The models could make scenarios comparable and support decisions, provided they are suitable for the municipal structures.
The publication "Urban digital twins in heat planning" is available to download as a PDF.
Author: Susanne Harmsen |
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