German “Waermewende” – excursion to a large heat pump in Mertingen

The two GP Joule employees answered the participants' many questions on site – from project development and implementation issues to initial operating experiences.

The two GP Joule employees answered the participants' many questions on site – from project development and implementation issues to initial operating experiences.

The premises of the VHS Donauwörth provided a good setting for the get-together (foyer) and the subsequent presentations in the seminar room (see image).

The premises of the VHS Donauwörth provided a good setting for the get-together (foyer) and the subsequent presentations in the seminar room (see image).

The two heat storage tanks of the visited energy system are visible from afar and enable the heat pump to be operated in line with the electricity market price.

The two heat storage tanks of the visited energy system are visible from afar and enable the heat pump to be operated in line with the electricity market price.

On 14 May 2025, around 60 participants from science, industry and public administration took part in an excursion to visit the innovative large heat pump plant of ProTherm Mertingen GmbH – an officially recognised KUMAS flagship project. The event was organised by the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt – Institute of new Energy Systems (THI-InES) and offered exciting insights into the energy system and initial experiences from operating the plant.

The air heat pump in Mertingen has a thermal capacity of up to 900 kilowatts and is powered by electricity, a significant portion of which comes from an adjacent open-space photovoltaic park. The plant also includes two buffer storage tanks, each with a volume of 84,000 litres. Artificial intelligence is used to forecast both the heat demand in the grid and the expected PV yield. This is used to create an optimised schedule for operating the large heat pump.

After arriving by bus from the THI, the excursion began with a tour of the plant in Mertingen. The group then moved on to the VHS Donauwörth, where a technical exchange took place in the form of keynote speeches and discussions.

Technical presentations and discussions based on the example in Mertingen
The series of presentations was kicked off by Prof. Daniel Navarro Gevers, Professor at the Institute of new Energy Systems at THI. He presented the ‘W³ – Waermewende, Heat Pump & District Heat Networks’ project. Prof. Matthias Huber, head of InES, gave a technical introduction to the topic of Waermewende and highlighted the future importance of large heat pumps based on scientific expansion scenarios for Germany.

Martin Schweihofer, Managing Director of ProTherm Mertingen GmbH, then presented the district heating network. Finally, Dr. Christoph Reiter, Project Engineer at GP JOULE GmbH, presented the practical experience gained from operating the large heat pump and the AI-supported network control system.

In a concluding discussion round, participants took the opportunity to ask questions and exchange ideas with the speakers. The response was positive, with many noting the successful combination of theory and practice as well as the innovative nature of the project.

The ‘W³ – Waermewende, Heat Pumps & District Heat Networks’ project (www.w3-waermewende.de), which organised and hosted the conference, is co-funded by the European Union. The presentation materials can be downloaded via the following link: Lecture materials for download

More about the Project “Transfer cluster Heat Pump & Heat Grid -Shaping the Heat Turnaround Intelligently! (W3)”: Project Fact Sheet
 

Back