MVV Energie Advanced Heat Pump Project in Mannheim to Serve 40,000 Homes by 2028
MVV Energie has announced plans to install two heat pump modules, each with a capacity of 82.5 MW, totaling around 165 MW, to supply district heating to approximately 40,000 homes in Mannheim. The system will use water sourced from the River Rhine, featuring 2-meter diameter intake pipes that draw about 10,000 litres per second. After heat extraction, the water is returned to the river.
Construction for the Mannheim project is scheduled to begin in 2026 and is expected to be fully operational during the winter of 2028–29. The project cost is estimated at €200 million. Industry estimates, such as those from Everllence, suggest heat-pump equipment costs around €500,000 per MW, exclusive of buildings and infrastructure.
Environmental protections include a multi-step filtration system to prevent the intake of fish and computer modeling indicating the river's temperature rise would remain below 0.1°C.
Comparable projects and competitors include Everllence's undertaking in Aalborg, Denmark, which plans a 176 MW system from four 44 MW units due by 2027, and Esbjerg in Denmark, which previously operated four 35 MW units supported by large storage tanks holding up to 200,000 cubic meters.
In Helsinki, geographical constraints with sea depth have led to a concept involving a 20 km tunnel. The city is upgrading its district heating system with heat pumps, biomass, and electric boilers to optimize costs and balance its electric grid. Meanwhile, Exeter in the UK plans to add at least 12 MW of new heat pumps to its network by 2028.
