Heat from Cologne's Largest Central Heating System

If you decide to use district heat, then you are helping to protect the environment. Because we generate district heat in our combined heat and power plants by using a part of the steam which drives the electricity generating turbines to heat the hot water in the district heat network. The vast majority of the heat would otherwise escape as waste heat, but we use it meaningfully, and the applied energy is utilised in numerous ways. The heat is supplied straight to your home. This means combustion does not take place in your heating system.
> Combined heat and power

District heat production at RheinEnergie occurs at the combined heat and power plants in the centre of Cologne, in Niehl, in Junkersdorf, in Merheim and in Merkenich as well as at the heat plant in Bocklemünd. We have extended three district heat networks in Cologne to supply various districts with heat:

• The city centre network for areas of Cologne located on the left bank of the Rhine, and Deutz.
• The eastern network for Brück and Merheim.
• The northern network for the new town, Bocklemünd and Merkenich.

By connecting individual district networks we have been able to increase the proportion of district heat from combined heat and power. The most spectacular connection is between the city centre network located on the left bank of the Rhine and the Deutz network on the right bank. The district heat pipelines run for a distance of approximately 460 metres through an accessible tunnel six metres below the Rhine.

Straight to your home

The district heating water heated up in the combined heat and power plants flows through underground supply network pipes straight to our customers. It flows straight into your boiler room via the house connection at a temperature of up to 130 degrees Celsius. The heat is then transferred to the house's heating circuit and the drinking water heating system via a heat exchanger. Once the district heat water has cooled down it flows via the return pipe back to the combined heat and power plant, where it is reheated.

Our customers use the heat they need. A heat meter records the amount of energy used and helps to calculate your annual heat consumption bill.

If you convert your heating system to a district heat system, you can use the cellar space reserved for bunkering fuel for more enjoyable pastimes in future (for example as a sauna or fitness room). As a modern service enterprise we continue to take care of our district heat customers after conversion: Our district heat product service includes technicians who provide you with advice and practical support.

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