A new interactive map released in March by German thermal engineering firm TLK Energy shows that more than 3,000 companies in the country generate 171TWh annually of waste heat, highlighting the potential to reuse this untapped heat source.
“An advantage of the cartographic representation is the possibility of visualizing potential synergies between different actors ‒ for example, between industrial plants with high waste-heat generation and nearby residential areas, public facilities or other consumers with heat requirements,” said Ina Machleid, Software and Project Engineer at TLK Energy.
Generating the map: The German Federal Agency for Energy Efficiency, under the Energy Efficiency Act, required companies with an annual energy consumption over 2.5GWh to report individual site waste-heat data by January 1, 2025.
- Waste-heat sources are represented by red circles on the map, with the size of the circle indicating the size of the potential source. There are currently more than 21,000 sources on the map.
- Clicking on a circle provides the company name and its reported annual waste heat in kWh.
Applicability: The resource enables contractors and manufacturers of natural refrigerant heat pumps ‒ including ammonia (R717), CO2 (R744) and hydrocarbons ‒ to easily locate waste-heat sources in Germany for efficient energy transfer.
- “The visualization supports political decision-makers, energy planners and municipal administrations in the targeted development of sustainable and regionally adapted energy concepts,” Machleid said.
Installations: Natural refrigerant heat pumps are successfully using waste heat to decarbonize district heating networks across Europe.
- In Malmö, Sweden, four GEA ammonia-based heat pumps provide 40MW (11,374TR) of heating capacity at 66°C (151°F) to 10,000 homes using heat from a local wastewater treatment plant. Before releasing the water into the district network, a waste incinerator raises the outlet temperature to up to 90°C.
- In Seinäjoki, Finland, 2,000 homes are heated by three ammonia Sabroe DualPAC heat pumps from Johnson Controls, providing 4.9MW (1,393TR) of heating capacity using heat from a local wastewater treatment plant.
- Six Fenagy isobutane (R600a)/propane (R290) heat pumps will supply more than 30MW (8,530TR) of heating capacity to a Finnish city’s district heating network using waste heat from a local data center.
Quotable: “[The map] can significantly facilitate the planning and implementation of heating networks, [examples of waste-heat cooperation and] investments in infrastructure,” Machleid said.
