BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH has agreed a €500 million promotional loan facility with the European Investment Bank to help modernise Berlin’s district heating system and expand its network.
An initial tranche of €250 million has been signed, with the financing running for up to 25 years, the EIB announced on Thursday.
The funding will support projects including work at BEW’s Reuter West site in Spandau, alongside expansion and upgrading of Berlin’s district heating infrastructure.
District heating supplies heat from central plants through insulated pipes to homes and businesses across a city.
Axel Pinkert, BEW’s managing director of finance, said the projects include replacing coal, integrating renewable energy sources and using “unavoidable waste heat.”
Nicola Beer, a vice-president of the EIB, noted the loan supports infrastructure projects in Berlin that modernise supply systems and allow new heat sources to be integrated.
Projects at Reuter West and across the network
In Spandau, BEW is investing in a large heat pump system designed to use energy from treated wastewater from Berliner Wasserbetriebe in future,.
The company is also building a new turbine plant to generate steam from the BSR waste-to-energy plant, along with related electrical and hydraulic systems.
For the network, the financing covers expansion and upgrading of key interconnecting pipelines, as well as smaller growth and densification projects within the district heating network.
The EIB financing follows a long-term loan facility under Germany’s state development bank KfW, under which BEW secured loans totalling €1 billion with 20-year maturities.
BEW said it plans to invest around €3.5 billion in transforming its district heating network by 2030, with the aim of phasing out coal entirely by 2030 and reaching climate-neutral heat generation by 2045.
