Rheinenergie puts heat storage facility into operation
April 16, 2024
Source: Energie & Management Powernews
The storage facility is intended to make the district heating supply in Cologne-Merheim and Cologne-Neubrück on the right bank of the Rhine more flexible and efficient.
The district heating storage facility that energy supplier Rheinenergie has put into operation at the Cologne-Merheim site is 23 meters high. With a capacity of around 3,000 cubic meters of water, it is intended to smooth out consumption peaks in the grid and enable optimal use of the three combined heat and power plants at the Merheim cogeneration plant. This is according to a statement from the Cologne-based utility company.
Construction of the project began in May 2023 and the storage facility is now going into operation as planned following the completion of the test and trial phase. "Integrating the storage tank into the existing district heating system is very complex," says Armin Ehret, Head of Power Plants at Rheinenergie.
The heating water contained in the storage tank can be up to 95 degrees. It absorbs heat from the combined heat and power plant as required and releases it flexibly into the district heating network in Merheim and Neubrück. Rheinenergie's district heating network currently has a total length of around 380 kilometers. It is to be extended by 50 kilometers by 2030 and by a further 150 kilometers by 2035. Investments of around 3.8 billion euros are planned for this.
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