District heating from surplus electricity - BEW builds new plant

District heating pipes in a wind-to-heat plant (power-to-heat plant). (Illustrative image)

If there is an excess of electricity from wind and solar power plants, it can soon be converted into district heating at the Mitte CHP plant within a matter of minutes.

BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme, transmission system operator 50Hertz, and Stromnetz Berlin today jointly launched the construction of a 120-megawatt power-to-heat plant. According to BEW, the plant is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2028. The state-owned company will handle the construction, while 50Hertz will be primarily responsible for financing. Up to 75 million euros have been budgeted for the construction.

Facility is intended to improve congestion management

50Hertz plans to use the facility for so-called congestion management when more electricity from renewable sources is produced in eastern Germany than can be consumed by electricity users. Instead of curtailing wind or solar power plants, the new facility could absorb the electricity and feed it into Berlin’s district heating network. This has several advantages: the use of fossil fuels and CO₂ emissions are reduced, and customers are supplied with 100 percent renewable energy. District heating is also needed in the summer, when heating isn’t required - for example, to heat water. 

Annual savings of 76,000 tons of CO₂

"In the first five years of operation alone, the plant will save approximately 76,000 tons of CO₂ annually thanks to reduced gas consumption at the combined heat and power plant in Mitte and increased use of renewable energy," BEW announced. "In the long term, when fully operational, the plant will be able to supply district heating to over 30,000 average households in the winter and provide sufficient hot water for around 360,000 households in the summer."