Research team develops tool for heat pump integration

05.08.2025

Source: E & M powernews

In the "TrafoWärmeNetz" project, a research team is developing a tool to help municipal utilities and local authorities convert their heating networks to use heat pumps.

Heat pumps are considered a key technology for decarbonizing heating networks. However, their integration into existing structures has so far been technically complex, labour-intensive and not very economically standardized. In the "TrafoWärmeNetz" project, a research consortium is therefore developing a digital tool to support municipalities, municipal utilities and network operators in systematically converting their local and district heating networks to the use of heat pumps.

The project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, will run until the end of 2026. In addition to Munich University of Applied Sciences and Fraunhofer ISE, Drees & Sommer, Stadtwerke am See, Stadtwerke Pfaffenhofen a. d. Ilm and Danpower are also involved. The project is being coordinated by Project Management Jülich.

Decarbonization potential of up to 10 million tons of CO2

"According to estimates, the sustainable transformation of small and medium-sized existing district heating networks can save around 200 thousand tons of CO2 per year," explains Madjid Madjidi, Professor of Integral, Computer-Aided Planning in Building Services Engineering at Munich University of Applied Sciences. "With the planned expansion of heating networks and the complete decarbonization of the heat supply, this figure could potentially rise to as much as 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year." Heat pumps or hybrid systems would be an excellent way to leverage this potential.

The aim is to provide smaller and medium-sized network operators in particular with standardized processes. These grids with an output of between 300 kW and 10 MW usually supply residential areas or districts. "At the moment, many operators don't know what potential their existing heating networks actually have or how they can convert them in a technically and energy-efficient way. They often simply lack data and comparisons. We want to close this gap in the future with our research results and the digital planning tool," says Mathias Lanezki, project manager at Drees & Sommer.

The digital planning tool is intended to help analyze potential in existing buildings, evaluate suitable system configurations and carry out simulations of technical feasibility. It takes into account different consumption profiles, heat generator combinations and infrastructural requirements.

Demonstrator simulates heat loads

An initial software demonstrator has already been developed, which is able to precisely simulate the heating requirements of a building - and, in the future, several buildings. According to Dress & Sommer, the results are comparable with established simulation tools such as IDA ICE, but require less computing time. The software should be freely accessible in the medium term and be based on open source components.

Another component is the mapping of regional heating requirements via Open Street Map and a process chain with Excel interfaces. According to the project managers, this makes it possible to determine heating requirements, plan network topologies and evaluate them hydraulically. Users can adapt individual process steps on a modular basis or integrate external tools.

With the tool, the project team aims to create the basis for making the switch from fossil fuels to electricity-based heat generation economically viable and technically feasible. The demonstrator forms the basis for the planned planning tool, which will be available throughout the industry once the project is completed.

Author: Heidi Roider