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 the renewable heating solution for the future.
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 low-carbon heating technologies, heat pumps enhance efficiency and reduce carbon emissions — delivering sustainable heat with maximum 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.
Boost your energy efficiency from 80% to 400%
Yep — that’s right. For AS Utilitas Tallinn, GEA delivered a substantial boost in energy efficiency — up to an astounding 400%.
No less than 24 megawatts are supplied by GEA’s heat pumps. And because their low electricity consumption is powered by renewable energy, the solution leaves a carbon footprint of zero — saving 20,000 tons of CO₂ emissions per year.
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?
Heat is everywhere — ready for you to harness.
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 sustainability values include food, beverage, dairy, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, natural gas, and marine.
La bomba de calor GEA RedAstrum se utiliza tanto en sistemas de calefacción municipal como procesos industriales.
Aurivo confía en GEA para crear una instalación sostenible de leche líquida
Aurivo, el segundo mayor procesador de leche líquida de Irlanda, ha reducido las emisiones de CO2 en su planta de Killygordon en un 80%, gracias al sistema integrado de procesado de leche, refrigeración y...
La bomba de calor de GEA que recicla el calor residual del metro de Londres para suministrar calefacción a hogares, dos centros de ocio y un colegio en Islington
El revolucionario Centro de Energía Bunhill 2 –el primero de su tipo en el mundo– representa un modelo para descarbonizar el calor en futuros programas en Londres y el resto del mundo, a fin de...
GEA suministra una solución de refrigeración y calentamiento sostenible para la nueva planta procesadora de aves de Wipasz
GEA Refrigeration Technologies ha participado en un proyecto en que se han invertido millones de euros instalando un sistema integrado de refrigeración con bomba de calor en la nueva planta de Wipasz, construida de...
Cómo las bombas de calor GEA están descarbonizando la calefacción urbana en Suecia
Lea más sobre cómo las soluciones de bombas de calor GEA convierten el calor residual de las plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales y de incineración de residuos en calefacción para los hogares de...
La solución de bomba de calor de GEA que ahorra energía para Mars, Inc.
Mars reduce sus costes de explotación y su huella de carbono con las bombas de calor industriales de GEA. Soluciones de ingeniería holísticas para procesos de alimentación, bebidas y productos lácteos.
GEA profundiza para producir energía limpia a partir del agua de las minas con una solución de bomba de calor
Las bombas de calor GEA son cruciales para el programa de agua de mina de Gateshead, el mayor esquema de recuperación de calor de este tipo en el país, dedicado a abordar el cambio climático...
Productos y tecnologías
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GEA Grasso Maintenance Monitor (GMM)
First class electronic monitoring based on proven developments.
GEA Omni Control Panel
The intuitive touch for machine control technology.
Automatización y control para sistemas de refrigeración y calefacción
Las innovadoras soluciones de control y supervisión de GEA proporcionan capacidades para controlar los procesos de producción, maximizar la eficiencia y reducir el tiempo de inactividad del sistema.
Bombas de calor GEA de tipo abierto
Las bombas de calor GEA de tipo abierto están diseñadas para conectarlas directamente a una planta de refrigeración. Utilizan el calor del condensador como fuente recuperando eficazmente el calor con una mínima pérdida de presión mediante un intercooler abierto compacto. Pueden proporcionar calor a cualquier proceso industrial y se utilizan habit...
We aim to sustain
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 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 aligns perfectly with our commitment to our customers and our planet.
NEXUS: Soluciones holísticas de ingeniería de GEA
Calor para enfriar nuestro planeta durante generaciones
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