Strong growth for solar district heating in Germany
In 2019, the installed capacity of large scale solar thermal plants in Germany was increased by 50%.
Currently 70 Megawatt can be used for district heating supply. Mainly municipal utilities invested in solar district heating (SDH) as they want to use the opportunity to de-carbonize their district heating grids. The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where also the ENTRAIN region Neckar-Alb is located, plays a leading role: 47% of the all solar district heating plants are located here!
SDH is increasingly recognized as a mature technology. Technical and economical feasibility were proven by the successful operation of reference plants. High investment costs (which are typical for renewables compared to fossil technologies) can be balanced through state incentives. Therefore, the advantage of low operating costs weighs even stronger. On top, the recently decided CO2-pricing makes solar thermal energy even more attractive.
In total, the share of solar thermal energy in the district heating market is still marginal. However, based on the assumption of a market potential around 20 Gigawatt, a persistent growth can be expected in the coming years. ENTRAIN is working on key points such as adequate spatial and heat planning. This will foster a climate-friendly development in the communities of the Neckar-Alb region.
A detailed press article in German can be found here: https://www.solar-district-heating.eu/de/aktuelles/presse/
