Hamburg builds the largest wastewater heat pump for 39,000 households!

Hamburg builds the largest wastewater heat pump for 39,000 households!

What's going on in Hamburg? Big plans for climate protection! The city builds the largest wastewater heat pump in Germany on its sewage treatment plant with an impressive performance of 60 megawatts. From 2026, this innovative system is to supply up to 39,000 households with climate -friendly district heating, and thus take an important step towards sustainable energy supply. This project is part of a more comprehensive plan that provides for the exit from coal by 2030 at the latest and wants to operate the city companies by 2040. The financing by the Hamburg energy works amounts to around 60 million euros - there is a lot of money on the table! Stadt-werk.de reports that the technology of the heat pump plays a key role, because it is installed at the expiry current where cleaned sewage is at least 12 degrees Celsius.

But what exactly happens in this heat pump? Four turbo makeers raise the temperature of the waste water to a proud 95 degrees Celsius before the heat is led to the neighboring gas and steam turbine system in the port of energy park. There the hot water is stored and prepared for the heating networks if necessary. A lot of waste water flows through the system per second, which corresponds to about 16 bathtubs. A remarkable performance that the city will bring forward when it comes to heat recovery and thus also contributes to improving the CO₂ balance. [hamburg.de] (https://www.hamburg.de/politik-und-verwaltung/bukea/aktuelles/Pressemeldungen/neue-60-megawatt-grosswaermePumpe-gest-design-design-an--Ant-an--Ant-an--Ant--Ant-an--Ant-an--ant-an--ant-an--ant-an-anmwasser informs you as owner for the construction and operation of the system. Commissioning is carried out parallel to the modular energy park port, which delivers climate -friendly warmth from different waste heat sources.

A look beyond the city limits

The technology of heat recovery from wastewater is not new, but so far it has been a rarity in Germany. As enercity.de explains, the increase in CO₂ prices made fossil fuels more expensive, which makes heat pump technology more and more interesting. In other cities such as Stockholm, where wastewater heat is used in the "Stockholm Royal Seaport", or in Vienna, where since December 2023 over 50,000 households have been supplied with district heating by a wholesale heat pump at the Simmering sewage treatment plant, you can see that this trend moves further to other regions. A wastewater heat pump is also used in Hanover to replace a coal -fired power plant. This shows that the use of existing heat is not only ecologically sensible, but also contributes to the decarbonization of the local and district heating networks.

These developments are a strong sign that many cities are increasingly facing the challenge of the energy transition. Hamburg goes on with a good example here and shows that wastewater not only has waste, but also a sensible heat source. So let's keep our eyes open and pursue the progress - it remains exciting!