Europe’s largest heat pump to heat Cologne homes using Rhine river water

Cologne energy supplier RheinEnergie is planning Europe’s largest heat pump that will use energy contained in Rhine river water to heat homes in the city centre. “RheinEnergie has awarded the general planning contract for a large-scale heat pump in a capacity class that does not exist yet in Europe or Germany,” the company said in a press release. The 150 megawatt (MW) installation will supply enough heat energy to the district network to heat around 30,000 homes. Construction is to begin in early 2024, and the start of operation is planned for early 2027, the company said, also mentioning its plans for another 50-megawatt heat pump north of the city to provide heat for residential districts and industrial companies. The heat pumps are part of company plans to invest around 3.8 billion euros in “a resilient, climate-neutral and secure energy supply” by 2035.

After years of inaction, Germany has started to address emissions produced through heating its buildings — which are directly responsible for around 15 percent of the country’s entire CO2 output. However, a draft law for a phase-out of fossil fuel-powered boilers has triggered fierce debate about the decarbonisation of this sector, with critics arguing that the investment costs for climate-friendly solutions like heat pumps will overburden homeowners or tenants.