With Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport, Hamburger Energiewerke (HEnW) has gained two new major customers and, for the first time, companies from the aviation industry have connected to its district heating network. Both companies want to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing the city's district heating system to help achieve their ambitious climate targets. According to current plans, Hamburg's district heating system will be climate-neutral in the future. The network expansion required to connect Hamburg Aviation and Lufthansa Technik will also enable HEnW to connect many other potential customers in the north of Hamburg to the district heating network. The expansion is also an important factor for municipal heating planning in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
With energy requirements equivalent to those of a small town, the two aviation companies Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport want to save considerable amounts of greenhouse gases. Connecting to the district heating network of Hamburger Energiewerke is the biggest lever for both companies to reduce their CO2 emissions. In total, switching their heat supply to district heating will save around 17,000 tonnes of CO2 per year from 2028.
Hamburger Energiewerke will lay a 4.7-kilometre-long district heating pipeline to the companies from the existing city grid. From mid-2028, it will supply heat with a capacity of 40 megawatts to Lufthansa Technik and 11 megawatts to Hamburg Airport. In purely mathematical terms, this corresponds to the heating requirements of 17,000 residential units*. The new pipeline will also enable HEnW to connect additional residential and commercial buildings in the north of Hamburg from the 2030s. The expansion of the city grid is part of the transformation plan, which describes the path to climate neutrality alongside the expansion plans.
Jens Kerstan, Senator for the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture: "It is a great signal that two large industrial companies of such importance for Hamburg are focussing on a heat supply that is as climate-neutral as possible, thus significantly reducing their CO2 emissions in the future. With Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport, HEnW has gained two innovative and technologically leading companies as customers that will now become role models for other companies and thus help us to achieve our ambitious climate targets all the faster. This decision also shows how competitive our district heating is thanks to remunicipalisation. I would like to thank the management teams very much for their decision, as it also means that we will more quickly fulfil our political goal of providing not only companies, but all Hamburg residents with an affordable and socially fair supply: The pipeline construction required to connect these two anchor customers will enable HEnW to build further supply lines from this pipeline in the north from the 2030s onwards in order to connect additional potential customers in the north of Hamburg and further advance the heating transition."
Andreas Rieckhof, State Councillor for Economic Affairs and Innovation: "With Lufthansa Technik and our airport connecting to the district heating network, people in the north of Hamburg will also benefit: The district heating connection for these two major customers in Fuhlsbüttel is not only good for the climate, but also makes it economical to connect private housing in the northern of the city to the district heating network in the first place. The two new major heating customers, Lufthansa and Helmut Schmidt Airport, are thus taking an important step for the aviation industry, for Hamburg as an industrial location and for their northern neighbours, especially in Langenhorn. This is a very effective contribution by industry to climate protection in our city!’
Michael Prinz, Managing Director of Hamburger Energiewerke GmbH: "We are delighted to have won our first customers from the aviation industry, Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport. The connection of these two companies gives our growth plans in the north an extra boost. The new district heating pipeline will enable us to further expand our urban heating network there and replace the fossil-fuelled heating systems in other buildings in the north of Germany."
Dr William Willms, Chief Financial Officer of Lufthansa Technik AG: "We're making great strides towards the energy transition. With Hamburg district heating, we can immediately reduce our emissions from heating by two thirds and soon heat our hangars and halls in a CO₂-neutral way. This is a significant investment in our headquarters, with which we, as the city's largest district heating customer in future, are helping to give Hamburg a climate-neutral future. This is great news."
Christian Kunsch, CEO of Hamburg Airport: ‘The heat supply accounts for around 87 per cent of Hamburg Airport's remaining CO2 emissions. By opting for district heating, we can save around 80 per cent of these emissions and come significantly closer to our goal of achieving CO2 emission-free operations by 2035.’
Michael Werner-Boelz, Head of the Hamburg-Nord District Authority: ‘The planned district heating pipeline for Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport can identify and further strengthen additional synergies and potential for the Hamburg-Nord business park. Investigations into a local heating network are currently being carried out at the business park in the immediate vicinity of the expansion of the district heating network. Together with the business network, the district authority has already identified local potential for renewable energies. I welcome good future cooperation between the two projects in the interests of a climate-friendly energy supply.’
Background information
Lufthansa Technik - CO₂ neutrality at its largest site
Lufthansa Technik aims to completely decarbonise its site in the north of Hamburg. The largest production facility of the global market leader for aviation technology services requires about as much energy as a small town with around 4,600 households and 10,000 inhabitants. There are 85 buildings on the 500,000 square metre site in Fuhlsbüttel, including 23 production halls, seven hangars, 14 office buildings, numerous functional buildings and two canteens. In order to become CO₂-neutral, Lufthansa Technik is focussing on greater energy and heat efficiency, green electricity and a sustainable heat supply. Connecting to the district heating network is the most important lever here. Around 45 per cent of CO₂ emissions are still attributable to the industrial company's heat supply. Immediately after connection to the district heating network, heat-related CO₂ emissions are reduced by around two thirds. By 2045, the CO₂ balance at the company's headquarters is to be reduced to zero. However, the commitment does not end at the factory gates: as a driver of innovation, Lufthansa Technik supports aviation worldwide in becoming more sustainable. Examples of this include fuel-saving technologies such as the AeroSHARK surface film and the Cyclean engine wash, as well as research into hydrogen.
Hamburg Airport - NetZero 2035
Hamburg Airport has been CO2-neutral since 2021. While the remaining emissions are still being offset by high-quality compensation certificates, fossil CO2 emissions from the operation of airport buildings, facilities and vehicles will be gradually reduced to zero by 2035 through technical conversions and energy savings. With its climate strategy ‘Net Zero 2035 - Now. For the future’, Hamburg Airport wants to be the first major airport in Germany to achieve this goal and thus emphasise its pioneering role in climate protection. Alongside the construction of its own wind farm, heat supply is the area of action with the greatest potential to reduce further CO2 emissions: Currently, the heat supply for Hamburg Airport's more than 100 buildings is responsible for around 87 per cent of CO2 emissions.
Hamburger Energiewerke's transformation plan - on course for climate neutrality
By 2045, the heat supply in Germany should be climate-neutral according to the specifications of the German government and the ‘Federal Funding for Efficient Heating Networks’ (BEW) funding programme. As part of municipal heating planning, the future transformation plan for the city network shows how Hamburg's district heating network is to be further expanded, densified and converted into a greenhouse gas-neutral heating network between 2030 and 2045. The expansion of the district heating network in the densification and growth zones will focus on multi-storey office and residential buildings in order to replace as many fossil-fuelled heating systems as possible with future climate-neutral district heating. HEnW's urban network currently has a length of 860 kilometres.
Facts and figures
Heat supply:
- Lufthansa Technik: approx. 40 megawatts output (corresponds to approx. 13,300 residential units)
- Hamburg Airport: approx. 11 megawatts output (corresponds to approx. 3,700 residential units)
- Total length of the district heating line: 4.7 kilometres
Greenhouse gas reduction:
- From 2028: Reduction in CO₂ emissions of around 17,000 tonnes per year
Schedule:
- Planned connection Lufthansa Technik: mid-2028
- Planned connection to Hamburg Airport: mid-2028
via Hamburg Airport