1000th CHP plant on Berlin's grid

29.06.2015

Today, in Berlin's Lichtenberg district, the 1000th CHP plant was connected to Berlin's energy grid.

Today, in Berlin's Lichtenberg district, the 1000th CHP plant was connected to Berlin's energy grid. With a total output of around 145 MW, the decentralised generating units contribute to the capital's innovative energy supply solutions. The latest CHP plant was constructed as the result of a collaboration between the Berliner Energieagentur (Berlin Energy Agency - BEA) and housing developer HOWOGE. With a thermal output of 207 kW and electrical output of 140 kW, it supplies electricity and heat to over 300 apartments in the Lichtenberg district.

In 2005, there were only 143 connected CHP plants. This number has increased approximately sevenfold in the past decade. The increasing significance of decentralised and regenerative generating units in Berlin places considerable demands on the energy grid. This is because the CHP plants feed energy which cannot be used at that place and time into the distribution grid. This feed-in does not always correspond to the city's energy consumption at that time, but rather to the excess at that particular plant, and is therefore subject to fluctuations.

This image is available in German only.

By 2030, Stromnetz Berlin GmbH, distribution system operator in the capital, predicts a further increase in the number of CHP plants to around 5000. Intelligent technologies and efficient processes are required to constantly balance the fluctuating feed and Berlin's energy consumption. With forward-looking investment of EUR 146 million in 2015 alone, Stromnetz Berlin GmbH's grid is very well placed to achieve this.