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Press Release25 March 2021Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG
and Siemens EnergyBerlin
Vattenfall and Siemens Energy help advance a climate-friendly heating supply for Berlin with large-scale heat pump
Since 1997, the cooling plant on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz has been reliably supplying locally and
efficiently generated cooling power to some 12,000 offices, 1,000 housing units, and numerous
cultural facilities in the vicinity. This has previously generated unused waste heat, which has been
dissipated into the surrounding air via cooling towers. Putting a new high-temperature heat pump
into operation, however, will provide a more environmentally friendly way of linking heating,
cooling, and electricity in the future. The new technology turns waste heat into a usable product,
improving the energy-efficiency of the cooling power generation process while providing the urban
district in Berlin with green heat from renewable electricity. The use of the heat pump will substantially reduce the amount of heat being dissipated into the environment and provide
additional heat for the district heating network, amounting to about 55 GWh per year, with an
estimated annual saving of about 6,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions and 120,000 m³ of cooling
water.
Siemens Energy is delivering this new type of large-scale, high-temperature heat pump to provide
thermal capacity of up to 8 MW, which will be capable of flexibly delivering flow temperatures in
the district heating network of between 85°C and about 120°C, depending on ambient conditions.
This is one way in which technology can make a further contribution toward replacing fossil-based
heating in urban district heating networks. In addition to more efficiently linking energy resources
at a local level, this project represents the first trial of the large-scale, high-temperature heat pump
at a practical scale under real conditions.
“If we want to achieve the transition to a new energy mix in the cities and rely more on the potential
of renewables, we need to take an integrated view of heating, cooling, and the electricity supply,”
comments Tanja Wielgoss, CEO of Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG. “That’s the only way we can make
the best possible use of the available resources. We’re proud that we can join forces with Siemens
Energy to take our cooling plant, which has provided efficient cooling in the Potsdamer Platz
neighborhood for more than 20 years, and make our system even better with this new large-scale,
high-temperature heat pump.”
“Decarbonizing our heating supply is a key precondition for successfully achieving the objectives of
the Paris Accords,” says Jochen Eickholt, Member of the Executive Board of Siemens Energy. “Largescale heat pumps can play an important part in the medium to long-term conversion of our heating
supply system. We’re very pleased to be working with Vattenfall to advance the heating transition in
Berlin and trial this potentially key technology for the first time.”
A high-temperature heat pump of similar configuration is to be integrated into the refrigeration plant operated by Vattenfall at Potsdamer Platz.
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Siemens Energy is one of the world’s leading energy technology companies. The company works with its customers and partners on energy systems for the future, thus supporting the transition to a more sustainable world. With its portfolio of products, solutions and services, Siemens Energy covers almost the entire energy value chain – from power generation and transmission to storage. The portfolio includes conventional and renewable energy technology, such as gas and steam turbines, hybrid power plants operated with hydrogen, and power generators and transformers. More than 50 percent of the portfolio has already been decarbonized. A majority stake in the listed company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) makes Siemens Energy a global market leader for renewable energies. An estimated one-sixth of the electricity generated worldwide is based on technologies from Siemens Energy. Siemens Energy employs more than 90,000 people worldwide in more than 90 countries and generated revenue of around €27.5 billion in fiscal year 2020.
As a traditional Berlin company, Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG has been supplying the capital with energy for over one hundred years. Today, 1.3 million residential units in Berlin benefit from locally generated, reliable and environmentally friendly district heating as well as district cooling. Vattenfall Wärme relies on a smartly controlled district heating system, holistically conceived energy concepts and decentralised solutions. The aim for the capital is to become climate-neutral by 2050. Vattenfall supports the state of Berlin in achieving this goal. In a joint climate protection agreement, the company has committed to halving its CO2 emissions by 2020. This goal was already achieved ahead of schedule in 2017. Now, together with the state of Berlin, they are working on the coal phase-out by 2030. In parallel, Vattenfall is working on numerous innovative solutions for its great mission: a life without fossil fuels within one generation.