Rhine DH project includes 165MW heat pump
1st November 2025
GERMANY: Mannheim-based energy company MVV has commissioned a river heat pump as part of a €200m project to heat 40,000 households in the Rhine-Neckar region.
It is said that the planned heat pump, using isobutane refrigerant, will provide a thermal output of up to 165MW and make it the world’s largest plant of its kind.
The company commissioned to build the heat pump is Strabag Umwelttechnik GmbH, a German subsidiary of the Austrian environmental services company Strabag SE. It will be incorporated on the premises of Grosskraftwerk Mannheim AG, which operates the largest energy site in Baden-Württemberg.
The large-scale heat pump consists of two individual modules, each with a capacity of 82.5MW. Using the Rhine as a heat source, the machines will generate district heating with temperatures of up to 130°C. Construction work on the plant is scheduled to begin in mid-2026, with the new river heat pump scheduled to go into operation in winter 2028.
The innovative technology is based on a strategic partnership between Strabag and Atlas Copco Energas. At the heart of the system are turbo compressors from Atlas Copco, a company already awarded a contract in Gothenburg, Sweden, last year, to replace two older large-scale heat pumps with a high-performance 50MW heat pump module.
In addition to the river heat pump, the district heating scheme is already drawing energy from thermal waste treatment and a biomass power plant.
