Large heat pump planned for 2,800 units in Hamburg

18.07.2025

Source: E & M powernews

Hamburger Energiewerke is driving forward the heat transition in Bergedorf-West with a new large-scale heat pump. The project aims to make climate-neutral heat available locally.

Hamburger Energiewerke (HEnW) plans to build a new large heat pump at its Bergedorf-West heating plant site by the end of 2026. The aim is to transform the decentralized heat supply in the district in a climate-friendly way and to meet the legal requirements of the Heat Planning Act ahead of schedule. The future system is intended to replace fossil heat generation with environmental heat. According to the municipal supplier, it will supply 2,600 apartments and 200 commercial units with heating and hot water.

The new air heat pump will achieve a thermal output of 4 MW. It obtains its energy from the ambient air and uses a refrigerant cycle process. According to the supplier, it has an efficiency of up to 3.2 - in other words, it generates 3.2 kWh of heat from one kilowatt hour of electricity. The system is supplemented by gas boilers, which step in during consumption peaks or outages. Heat generation is expected to reach around 5,000 full utilization hours per year.

To achieve this, the Hamburg-based supplier is reworking around 3.8 kilometers of pipes in the district's existing heating network. Depending on the section, they are replacing old lines or adding new ones. The company has been operating the network since 2024. The "SAGA Unternehmensgruppe", a municipal housing company based in Hamburg, provides land and infrastructure as the owner of many of the connected buildings.

New technical building planned

Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2025, according to reports from the north. A new technical building will initially be built to connect to the existing heating plant site. The air coolers are to be installed on the roofs of newly built garages in order to make efficient use of the space. The project will be complemented by ecological measures: 42 new trees will be planted, sealed surfaces unsealed and green roofs and flowering shrubs planted. In addition, recreational areas with seating are planned on Ladenbeker Furtweg.

According to HEnW, the new facility will help to reduce annual CO2 emissions by around 2,000 tons. At the same time, noise emissions will be reduced compared to the previous heating plant thanks to a specially developed noise protection concept.

"The heat transition in the big city will only succeed if we as an energy supplier offer solutions for neighborhoods," said Michael Prinz, Managing Director of Hamburger Energiewerke, at the project presentation. Bergedorf-West is an example of how decentralized existing networks can be converted to be climate-neutral. Large heat pumps are a central component here.

According to HEnW, it supplies over 160,000 Hamburg customers with green electricity and gas. They operate "one of the largest district heating networks in Germany" and supply more than 538,000 residential units. The supplier plans to phase out coal by 2030 and - like the federal government - to make its heating supply completely climate-neutral by 2045. The project in Bergedorf-West is part of this transformation process.

Author: Davina Spohn