Stadtwerke Münster recently placed an order for a large-scale heat pump for the port power plant. Construction will start at the end of 2023. The planned plant is intended to use the waste heat generated in the gas-and-steam plant during electricity and heat production for district heating. Stadtwerke Managing Director Sebastian Jurczyk explains: "The aim of our heating strategy is to turn district heating step by step into a green, ecological home product. To this end, we are taking advantage of the opportunities and structures that the Münster location offers us."
Climate-neutral operation of the large heat pump
The electric heat pump itself does not use fossil fuel and is powered by certified green electricity at Grüner Strom-Label. During operation, heat from the cooling water of the gas and steam turbine plant is absorbed, compressed and fed into the district heating network. The heat pump has a thermal output of 2 MW and can meet the heating needs of up to 800 households. The technology saves up to 4,000 tons of local CO2 emissions in Münster's city harbor. This corresponds to the annual per capita emissions of almost 850 people.
District heating as a beacon of hope for the heat turnaround
Heating accounts for more than a third of CO2 emissions in Münster's households. "Green heat makes us less dependent on fossil fuels. Each individual building block advances the heat turnaround and climate protection in Münster," emphasizes Sebastian Jurczyk, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Münster.
One renewable heat source alone is not enough to meet all heating needs. It needs a mix of different green, decentralized generation technologies. In the summer, Stadtwerke Münster had already received a funding commitment from the Federal Network Agency for an innovative combined heat and power system. Both heat pump systems support climate-friendly district heating generation at the power plant at the port and are thus important components of the heating strategy for climate neutrality. They increase the proportion of sustainably generated heat in the port power plant to around five percent.
Funding from Grüner Strom-Labels funds.
Twenty percent of the investment sum comes from Green Electricity Label funds. Energy providers that offer a certified electricity tariff, such as Stadtwerke Münster, promote the expansion of eneuerable energies and innovative energy transition projects with a fixed amount per kilowatt hour consumed. The subsidy thus also comes indirectly from the electricity customers of Stadtwerke Münster, who MeinMünster:Electricity with green power Pro Climate refer.
Since 1999, a total of more than 1,600 energy transition projects, mainly in Germany, have been co-financed by the Grüner Strom-Label with over 85 million euros. Since this mostly involves partial funding of projects, the money actually invested is about 5.5 times higher. It is estimated that total investments of more than 500 million euros in Energiewende projects were triggered by co-financing with Green Electricity funding.
