District heating for Augsburg

30.11.2023


Source: Energie & Management Powernews

SWA Netze plans to invest 250 million euros in pipeline expansion and new generation plants for district heating.

The district heating network of SWA Netze GmbH, part of Stadtwerke Augsburg (SWA), is already 187 kilometers long. By the end of this year, it will have grown by a further eight kilometers of pipeline, and that is just the beginning: SWA Netze has budgeted 150 million euros for the pipeline expansion over the next five years. The Swabian company also plans to invest around 100 million euros in district heating generation plants by 2029, according to a press release from the company.

The Anna-Gymnasium in the north-west of the city was already connected to the district heating network in 2022. This year, the connection of the Schwaben-Nord police headquarters located 250 meters away has now been completed and the 2,222 SWA district heating transfer station has been commissioned.

The switch from gas heating to district heating has enabled the Free State of Bavaria, as the operator of the property, to save around 186.06 tons of CO2 on average per year, according to SWA. The thermal energy of the 90 to 120 degree hot water from the district heating pipe is transferred to the building's heating network via a heat exchanger. The total heat output is around 960 kW. Up to 12.5 million liters of hot water per hour flow in and out of the building at a pressure of 10 to 15 bar in the 60-meter-long route of the house connection, which connects the building to the district heating network.

In the coming years, there are plans to extend the network to the Erhard Wunderlich sports hall further to the west. By 2040, at least 40 percent of Augsburg's heating requirements are to be covered by district heating. Today, this figure is just under 20 percent.

The generation of district heating is also expected to be completely converted to renewable energy and waste heat by 2040. "Today, 60 percent of our district heating already comes from renewable energy and waste heat from the waste incineration plant," says Franz Otillinger, Managing Director of SWA Netze GmbH: "This is a top figure in Germany for a network of our size."

In addition to waste incineration, SWA currently uses a biomass cogeneration plant, in which residual forest wood is burned in a CO2-neutral way, and a power-to-heat plant to generate district heating. 40 percent of district heating is still generated in gas-fired power plants using combined heat and power generation. "We will replace the gas share over the next few years," says Otillinger.

In view of the "veritable explosion" in demand for district heating - according to Otillinger, growth rates are "around 1,000 percent" - SWA is also working on tapping into new sources of district heating. In addition to the integration of waste heat potential from industry and commerce, the use of large heat pumps is also being investigated, as is the use of geothermal energy. "And, of course, we are also intensively pursuing the topic of hydrogen, once it is available in sufficient quantities. We could convert the existing gas-fired power plants to hydrogen," says Otillinger.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien