Pioneering energy transition project IW3 secures federal funding

Establish an almost CO 2 -free, decentralized heat supply for existing and new buildings that works without fossil fuels. The consortium around the urban green electricity supplier HAMBURG ENERGIE has come a decisive step closer to this goal. Andreas Feicht, State Secretary for Energy Policy in the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi) today handed over a funding notification amounting to 22.5 million euros, which comes from the funding program “Real laboratories for the energy transition”. The Hamburg project is now starting to be implemented.

Michael Prinz, Managing Director of HAMBURG ENERGIE, is very pleased about the funding commitment from the BWMi: 
“The real laboratory funding helps us to put this unique project into practice. With IW 3 , we are delivering a pioneering concept for the heating transition based on renewable energies, in particular geothermal energy and a local heating marketplace. ”Private households use more than three quarters of their total energy consumption for heating, which is mostly still from fossil sources. “There is great potential for climate protection here,” explains Prinz. "With our project we want to contribute to making not only the electricity, but also the heat supply climate-friendly."

“Hamburg is on course for the heating transition. With "IW³ - Integrated WarmthWende Wilhelmsburg", Hamburg demonstrates how a real laboratory works in an urban environment, "said State Secretary Andreas Feicht from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy , which is contributing 22.5 million euros to the project. “Here, an urban heat supply with CO 2 -free energy is implemented. Real laboratories are innovation projects on an industrial scale that accelerate the transfer of technologies for the energy transition to the market, ”Feicht continued.

Jens Kerstan, Senator for Environment and Energy and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HAMBURG ENERGIE: 
“Our real laboratory with deep heat has the potential to become a prime example of the heat and energy transition in urban areas throughout Germany. With this, Hamburg is once again assuming a pioneering role for innovative energy transition projects. The funding enables a faster transfer of research into practice in order to test new technologies and solutions. For Hamburg this is another important step towards a climate-friendly city and fits in wonderfully with our climate plan. "

Nathalie Leroy, Managing Director of the HAMBURG WASSER Group: 
“This project is a great example of the cooperation within the HAMBURG WASSER Group. Our subsidiaries HAMBURG ENERGIE and CONSULAQUA are each specialists in their fields and were able to fall back on their extensive know-how for this lighthouse project. With our shared expertise and conviction, we advance projects within the group in which security of supply and climate protection go hand in hand. IW 3 should show how this can work - in line with Hamburg's climate protection policy. "

Geothermal energy, aquifer storage and heat marketplace as core elements

The central component of the IW 3  - Integrated Heat Turnover Wilhelmsburg is the regenerative heat supply. In addition to existing generators such as wind power or solar thermal energy, the use of geothermal energy forms a basis for generation. The concept provides for the construction of a geothermal system that draws hot thermal water up from the underground - more precisely from a depth of 3,500 meters. The energy is extracted from the water via heat exchangers and fed into the new heating network. The cooled water is fed back into the extraction horizon.

With the additional integration of cross-sectoral technologies such as heat pumps and power-to-heat systems as well as the use of self-generated renewable electricity, a CO 2 -neutral supply is possible. In order to be able to use excess heat from summer in winter, the construction of a seasonal storage facility, a so-called aquifer storage facility, is planned. In this way, different energy requirements with different energy availabilities can be efficiently harmonized with one another. A digital heat marketplace bundles all local energy producers and consumers and thus enables a cost-efficient and climate-friendly supply of buildings.

KeyFacts Energy: Geothermal news