Heating transition: Bilfinger helping energy provider expand climate-neutral district heating

• Electrical and automation technology for a number of district heating projects
• Efficient use of heat from sewage sludge and waste incineration plants
• Sustainable district heating concepts are a key component of the energy transition

Bilfinger is helping clients in Europe expand their district heating supply. For four projects currently underway, the industrial services provider is delivering the electrical and automation technology that allows heat from sewage sludge and waste incineration plants, for example, to be used to supply heating and hot water to thousands of households. Total order volume for Bilfinger GreyLogix GmbH, the subsidiary carrying out the work, amounts to around €18 million with project periods of between one and one-and-a-half years.

"The heating transition is an integral part of the energy transition," says Bilfinger CEO Dr. Thomas Schulz. "We help our customers, including utilities and municipalities, to integrate sustainable district heating concepts into their portfolios on an individual basis and in a timely manner."

Among other things, Bilfinger is helping Mannheim-based energy company MVV Energie AG expand its district heating services for customers in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. The industrial services provider is delivering the electrical and control technology for the efficient feed-in of heat from MVV's district heating backup plant in Mannheim-Neckarau, which is currently under construction, into the energy company's district heating network.

"The heating transition is one of the key components from our so-called 'Mannheim model', an approach that will allow us to become climate-neutral by 2040 and then climate-positive," says Dr. Hansjörg Roll, Chief Technology Officer at MVV Energie AG. "Before the end of this decade, we will be able to supply Mannheim and the surrounding region with climate-neutral district heating from renewable sources. Partners like Bilfinger are helping us to achieve this goal."

In 2018, Bilfinger Engineering & Technologies GmbH was responsible for the turnkey construction of MVV's district heating center in Mannheim with a total order volume of about €20 million. Bilfinger GreyLogix has now been working for MVV in Mannheim-Neckarau since September 2021, providing services for switchgears, cabling, sensor technology and installation of automation technology. The order volume is €5 million.

Bilfinger is providing similar services for the feed-in of district heating from a sewage sludge incineration plant in Hanover as well as a waste incineration plant in Hamburg. For the project in Hamburg, Bilfinger Engineering & Technologies GmbH is also responsible for plant construction and will supply the pumps and piping.

For the waste incineration plant in Chalampé, France, Bilfinger is supplying and installing the electrical instrumentation and control technology (EI&C). This includes the medium-voltage, low-voltage and transformer systems as well as the installation of the cabling, sensors and automation technology.

In addition to district heating, Bilfinger also supports its customers in other areas of the energy transition. Services include engineering, construction and installation of pressure piping for hydropower plants, maintenance work on wind turbines, enhancing the energy efficiency of industrial plants through improved insulation as well as solutions in the fields of carbon capture and hydrogen.