Cologne gets Europe's largest river water heat pump
Cologne is decarbonizing its district heating system. To this end, a heat pump with a capacity of 150 megawatts is being built on the Rhine.
Visualization of the large heat pump at the Cologne-Niehl power plant
(Image: RheinEnergie)
Heat from the Rhine for Cologne: A large heat pump is to supply Cologne with district heating in future. The system will be supplied by Augsburg-based machine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions. This has been agreed by the energy supplier RheinEnergie and MAN Energy Solutions.
The heat pump will supply Cologne's district heating network and, with an output of 150 megawatts, will be the largest river water heat pump in Europe. The plant, which is being built in the Niehl district, will consist of three modules, each with 50 megawatts, as well as systems for drawing water from the Rhine. The advantage of the location at Niehl harbor is that RheinEnergie already operates a gas-fired power plant there. This means that there is already a connection to Amprion's high-voltage grid.
The heat pump uses water from the Rhine as an energy source. Around 25,000 cubic meters of Rhine water are extracted every hour. Heat is extracted from the river water via a closed circuit. The heat pump, which is powered by electricity, then heats the water to a temperature of up to 110 degrees Celsius.
District heating for 50,000 households
The hot water is then fed into Cologne's largest district heating system. This covers the city center and the Deutz district on the right bank of the Rhine. Around 50,000 households will be supplied by the heat pump.
"We are relying on heat pump technology because it is tried and tested, reliable and extremely efficient," said RheinEnergie CEO Andreas Feicht at the signing of the contract. The plant will be "exemplary when it comes to tapping the dormant energy potential of the major rivers in Germany."
The plant will cost around 280 million euros. The European Union and the German government are contributing 100 million euros. Construction is scheduled to begin next year. The plant should then go into operation in the winter of 2027/28.
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MAN commissioned its currently most powerful heat pump in Esbjerg a few months ago. The 70-megawatt plant in the Danish port city uses seawater as a heat source and draws electricity from nearby wind farms. In January, Flensburg ordered a heat pump with a capacity of 60 megawatts from the US company Johnson Controls. A 60-megawatt heat pump system, also from Johnson Controls, is due to go into operation in Hamburg this year.
(wpl)
