Smart Energy Plant: 20–40% More Efficiency via Heat Recovery

Expansion of the Hilzingen heating network – biomass used with maximum efficiency

District Heating Hilzingen, Solarcomplex AG, Singen, Germany

The Hilzingen heating network is growing, and with it the responsibility for a sustainable energy supply. Solarcomplex is taking on this responsibility. For 25 years, the company has been planning, building, and operating plants for the supply of electricity and heat from renewable energies.  

Wood, a valuable commodity

When expanding Hilzingen, the approach was clear from the outset: renewable energies and wood form the backbone of the heat generator, in the knowledge that natural resources are a valuable commodity that must be treated with respect and used in the best possible way.

 Expansion of the heating plant with innovative spirit

With active flue gas condensation and maximum efficiency gains, the municipality of Hilzingen and Solarcomplex are going one step further. For the expansion of the heating network, this means that an absorption heat pump will be used in addition to a flue gas condensation system.

In order to achieve optimal results in flue gas condensation, a network return temperature of less than 50°C is required. This value is often exceeded in existing networks. In the new heating plant in Hilzingen, the return temperature is now lowered with an intermediate absorption heat pump and forwarded to the flue gas condensation system.

The absorption heat pump has the advantage that it is powered by warm water from the wood chip boiler and thus consumes only a fraction of the electricity.