Kick-off for the municipal heating plan

City planning officer Michael Tacke welcomes the workshop participants.

Among other things, the heat demand in Salzgitter and the existing and future heat sources must be analyzed.

A lot of data is needed for this. In an initial workshop, local stakeholders were informed and asked to participate. The first plans are to be presented to the political committees after the summer vacations.

City planning officer Michael Tacke welcomed representatives of the political bodies as well as stakeholders who had been invited to participate in the municipal heat planning and whose cooperation is needed.

"Together with you and the citizens of Salzgitter, we want to get municipal heating planning off the ground," emphasized Michael Tacke.

The aim is to use this municipal heat planning to ensure an economical, reliable, sustainable and fossil-free heat supply for all citizens of Salzgitter.

The approach: An inventory of the buildings, the heat demand, the current and future heat supply.

Important: Solutions in and for the heat supply in Salzgitter are to be developed jointly.

To this end, the city of Salzgitter and its climate protection team are working together with the planning office d-fine GmbH.

Project manager Dr. Robert Beestermöller and his team explained the municipal heat planning process over the next few months:

1. inventory analysis:

Analysis of building and settlement structure as well as energy infrastructure:

The first step is to record the current state of the buildings in Salzgitter. This requires data from local stakeholders such as the city of Salzgitter, chimney sweeps, WEVG, ASG, state statistical offices, etc.

2. potential analysis:

In the second step, potentials for a general reduction in heat demand and a greenhouse gas-neutral heat supply are sought. Where and how can the energy efficiency of buildings and industry be increased? How can unavoidable waste heat be used? How can the regenerative heat supply be expanded?

What is feasible?

3. target scenario and implementation strategy:

What can the heat supply in Salzgitter look like in the years 2030, 2035 and 2040?

What measures are required for this?

Important: Municipal heating planning is a guide that will be reviewed after five years. "Are we still on the right track?" and "Have the conditions in Salzgitter changed to which we need to adapt the measures?" are questions that need to be answered.

Dr. Robert Beestermöller, project manager from the planning office d-fine GmbH, (right) in conversation with the participants.

The procedure:

There are a number of factors that can influence decisions in municipal heating planning. Some of the most important are

Year of construction and construction method of the buildings
planned new buildings, neighborhoods and demolitions
Current heat consumption, heat generators and energy sources
Usable heat sources
existing heating networks
current energy efficiency of the buildings, refurbishment potential and refurbishment rates
Salzgitter's topography

These factors vary in Salzgitter due to its 31 districts with different structures.

This makes data collection all the more important for the analysis.

For the first municipal heat planning, the planning office d-fine GmbH therefore needs the cooperation and support of local stakeholders, interest groups and citizens in the form of data, information and suggestions.

What is done with the data?

This data is entered into a data system. This data system is referred to as a "digital twin" because it reflects Salzgitter with this data.

This "digital twin" is an instrument that analyzes the heat supply and develops scenarios for future heat planning.

The prerequisite for this is data that is available from stakeholders such as the city of Salzgitter, WEVG, chimney sweeps, housing associations and the census (statistics).

This data includes, for example

the heat consumption
the year of construction and the construction method of buildings
the number of inhabitants
Industrial waste heat and heat consumption

At the moment (status 02/2025), not all data is available.

For this reason, the planning office has resorted to a so-called "statistically typologized approach": Average figures that will be fleshed out as soon as the data is available.

Important: The digital twin is updated and thus updated.

Important2: The data supplied complies with data protection regulations and cannot be assigned to individuals.

Workshop participants in conversation.

Preliminary initial results of the inventory analysis:

Initial results of the heat planning show that 84 percent of heating systems are based on natural gas. In Salzgitter, industry has the greatest demand for heat.

The advantage: a lot of waste heat is generated that can be used and expanded.

The existing district heating network in Lebenstedt lends itself to expansion and is already being expanded in part. Salzgitter-Bad, Thiede and Gebhardshagen are fundamentally suitable for district heating. The prerequisite is the development and new construction of appropriate pipelines.

The analysis of this potential is a central component of municipal heating planning in Salzgitter.

City planning officer Michael Tacke emphasized that after this kick-off, further talks would be held with all stakeholders in order to present the municipal heating plan with various measures to the local councils and the council. Support and cooperation are an important prerequisite, for which he expressed his thanks.

After all, the municipal heating plan is important for the city of Salzgitter and its citizens as a decision-making basis for future investments in heating supply and renovations.

Participants had the opportunity to share their ideas and assessments or ask questions at various themed tables. Topics discussed at the tables included building potential, updating the digital twin, industrial potential, communication, heat supply and hydrogen.