Comfort heating accounts for approximately 50% of the world’s energy consumption — mainly from burning gas, oil, and coal. This will have to change and GEA is ready to deliver heat pump solutions that can help replace fossil-fuel boilers and enable greater use of renewable electricity in heating networks.
District heating
Today, district heating already plays a major role in supplying comfort heating and hot water to households, universities, and hospitals across the world:
- Approximately 13% of Europe’s heat demand is met by district heating
- Approximately 30% of Northern China’s domestic heat demand is met by district heating
- Less than 2% of North America’s heat demand is met by district heating
- Approximately 17% of South Korean households are connected to district heating
Across all regions, there are targets to increase the amount of energy distributed through district heating systems by 100–200% over the coming decades.
Why heat pumps for district heating?
District heating has traditionally been used to distribute harnessed waste heat from electricity production, improving efficiency from around 40% to 80%. But why stop there, when heat pumps can deliver efficiencies of 300–800%?
Heat is distributed through insulated pipes to meet residential and commercial needs and can be sourced from boilers, geothermal energy, cogeneration, biomass, or waste incineration.
As many cities shift to low-carbon solutions, heat pumps are becoming a cornerstone technology on this journey. Used alone or in combination with other energy-efficient heating technologies, heat pumps can improve energy efficiency and enable the reuse of available heat sources while delivering reliable performance.
How do heat pumps work?
A GEA heat pump upgrades readily available heat source — i.e. air, water, geothermal, and waste heat—into valuable energy. Using a natural refrigerant, it efficiently reaches temperatures up to 90°C for district heating, hot water, process heating, or steam. The cycle repeats seamlessly, cutting energy costs and boosting efficiency.
Learn more by watching the video below:
Heat is everywhere
In many district heating networks today, heat is obtained from various sources, including heat-only boiler stations and cogeneration plants that burn fossil fuels, biomass, or waste. A smart move is to look around at the heat that’s already available — and free.
Just imagine the waste heat from a data center cooling hundreds of servers. Or the warm water in an old, flooded mine. What about capturing heat from underground subway tunnels?
Many potential heat sources are already available and can be utilized in district heating applications.
Smart cities use smart grids
Municipalities and energy companies are striving for low-carbon energy while facing growing demands from an ever-expanding population. Switching to a system that relies on electricity instead of fossil fuels is an obvious win.
However, that transition — along with the rising number of electric vehicle — could increase total electricity demand by up to 200%, pushing the existing grid beyond its capacity.
GEA heat pumps adjust to available capacity and prioritize the most cost-effective option. They can turn on or off, ramp load up or down, and adapt to any scenario. They even optimize operation based on when electricity is cheapest or supply is limited.
Smart, right?
A proven skillset ready to support many applications
GEA’s district heating solutions build on its long and proven history as a global leader in industrial refrigeration, where compression serves as the core technology.
District heating applications rely on this core expertise. Other industries benefiting from GEA’s technology and engineering expertise include food, beverage, dairy, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, natural gas, and marine.
The GEA Blu-Red® Fusion heat pump is utilized in district heating systems for combined cooling and heating
Focused on long-term performance
Being future-proof goes beyond product life cycles and efficiency. In all aspects of our business, we support our company’s maxim: Engineering for a better world. We are driven by a passion for delivering solutions that help customers reduce energy consumption and carbon footprints.
Furthermore, GEA’s commitment to sustainability includes using the most efficient heat pump technology with natural refrigerants such as ammonia (NH₃), which has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 0.
GEA’s approach to district heating reflects our commitment to supporting customers in their energy transition journey.
Clean Heat, Smart Cities
Decarbonizing District Heating Webinar
- The crucial role of heat pumps on the pathway to net zero
- How small and large district heating networks can reduce CO2 emmissions while boosting energy efficiency
- The wide range of available heat sources ready to power district heating systems
Don't miss your chance to get the hottest insights in energy efficient district heating.
NEXUS - GEA's Holistic Engineering Solutions
Heat to cool our planet for generations to come
GEA heat pump upgrades waste heat from the London Underground to warm homes, two leisure centres and a school in Islington
The revolutionary Bunhill 2 Energy Centre – the first of its kind in the world – provides a blueprint for decarbonising heat in potential future schemes in London and around the world, reducing heating bills...
How GEA heat pumps are decarbonizing district heating in Sweden
Read more about how GEA heat pump solutions turn waste heat from the sewage and waste incinerator plants into valuable heating for Malmö homes in Sweden!
GEA is digging deep to produce clean energy
GEA’s heat pumps are crucial to Gateshead Mine Water Scheme, the largest heat recovery scheme of its kind in the country, dedicated to tackling climate change by decarbonizing district heating.
Heating Tallinn efficiently with innovative GEA heat pumps
As Tallinn moves toward climate neutrality, the Estonian energy provider Utilitas and GEA are setting new standards in district heating. Four state-of-the-art GEA heat pumps at its biomass combined heat and power plant are...
Lemgo's pioneering district heating project
The town of Lemgo in northwestern Germany has a city center with half-timbered houses and attractive stone buildings. Nevertheless, officials plan to generate up to 80 percent of the district heating needed for the city...
Products & Technologies
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GEA Omni Control Panel
The intuitive touch for machine control technology.
Customized GEA heat pumps
Customized heat pumps are designed for optimized efficiency and a wide range of temperatures and capacities. They serve all common industrial applications and district heating. They are applied when special conditions or requirements outstrip the limits of our standard heat pumps.
FES Premium-Quality Refrigeration Oils
FES oils are the natural choice to optimize industrial cooling and heating applications operating with reciprocating or screw compressors.
GEA Blu-Red® Fusion
The GEA Blu-Red® Fusion is a combination of the successful GEA Blu chillers (low stage) and GEA Red heat pumps (high stage).
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GEA Insights
The water equation
Across Europe, drought is a recurring reality – and no longer confined to the south. While water increasingly shapes where industries locate, its value is determined by local context. There are many technological routes to water efficiency in industrial processes, but location, energy needs and other factors are also key.
