Mannheim, Germany
Located in the southwest of Germany, Mannheim aims to expand its district heating network, currently serving 60% of households, to 75% by 2040. With a shift towards renewable energy, Mannheim is already sourcing 30% of its district heating from renewable sources, including waste heat, geothermal energy, and river heat pumps.
Decarbonising the district heating system
Heating currently accounts for 40% of Mannheim’s GHG emissions, and therefore, it is crucial to decarbonise this sector. This, is also included in a list of the city’s top 34 actions to be taken in the short/medium term as part of their Climate Neutrality Action Plan.
District heating is the backbone of the heating system in Mannheim and therefore plays a pivotal role in their strategy. Nowadays, 60% of Mannheim’s households are connected to the district heating system, and they have the ambitious goal of increasing this number to 75% by 2040. Additionally, Mannheim’s heating supplier company plans to be climate-neutral by 2030 and climate-positive by 2035.
Until 2020, the district heating in Mannheim was only fed from the heat extraction of the large power plant in Mannheim (GKM) and was therefore based exclusively on coal combustion. Since then, a connection of the heat extraction from the thermal waste treatment (TAB) has been created. Due to its favourable geographical location, Mannheim has relevant geothermal potential for heat supply, and by now, 30% of the district heating comes from renewable sources.
Strategic heating planning
The heat plan of Mannheim was developed in 2023, according to the state rules which mandate all municipalities in Baden-Württemberg to develop a Heating and Cooling plan by that year. The city had a climate action plan in place before, which established some general targets on several topics including heating. However, this heat plan went deeper into the goals of the heating sector allowing for more efficient action.
All major cities in Germany will soon have to undergo a similar exercise since H&C planning is now mandatory to have by 2026.
Main challenges to detoxify heat and next steps:
- The main challenge at the moment is to engage the citizens and communities. Ultimately, individual homeowners are the ones to decide to invest in their heating transition. Mannheim is currently working on informing about the benefits of connecting to the district heating system compared to the uncertainty of fossil fuel prices in the future.
- Decarbonisation of the district heating network is also a big challenge, as renewable energy sources will have to account for 100% of the heating system by 2030. However, they are making huge progress in Mannheim thanks to the waste heat, river heat pump and geothermal energy.
- The expansion of the network and the consistent investment needed to do so.
Where Mannheim is in its heat strategy
Mannheim's Heat Detox
Key Heat Figures
- Emissions related to heating: 793 602 tCO2 (2020)
- Km of DHC currently: around 530 km long
- Km of DHC planned: another 100 km of pipelines by 2040
- Percentage of renewables in heating system: Currently, 30% of the district heating is generated from renewables. By 2030, this will be 100%.
- Other interesting figures: There are 175.500 households in Mannheim, and 60% of them are connected to the district heating network. They plan to expand this to 75% by 2040.
Covenant Figures
Signatory to the Covenant of Mayors since 2010
% GHG emissions reductions by 2030: 80%
City Awards:
- EU Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”
- "A-List" rating by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)