New heat accumulator for Krefeld municipal utility accelerates energy transition
The 25-metre-high heat accumulator is expected to reduce carbon dioxide by 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year
Kremsmüller has built one of the largest heat accumulators to date in the city of Krefeld in the Düsseldorf administrative district. The storage tank has a capacity of 5 million litres or 5,000 cubic metres of water, a height of 25 metres and a width of 16 metres, making it the second largest Kremsmüller heat storage tank to date.
The heat storage can provide the heating needs of about 9,000 district heating households for an entire day. The nearby Helios Clinic and the Alexian Hospital are also supplied with district heating from SWK Stadtwerke Krefeld.
The challenges of this project were definitely the very bad weather conditions with rain and strong winds that accompanied the construction work for weeks.
The weather, but also the limited space on the construction site, made it necessary to manufacture the roof inside the heat storage tank. During the final lift of the roof, it had to be lifted, then extended, bolted and placed on the roof corner ring. You can see pictures of the lifting of the roof in the following video.
Afterwards, the interior fittings, the supply line, return line and diffusers were installed and the tank was sealed.
For the client SWK AG, the new heat accumulator from Kremsmüller is an important building block in the energy turnaround and in achieving the climate protection goals. Environmentally friendly heat from a large waste incineration plant can now be used more flexibly and thus substitute the use of gas. In the process, a carbon dioxide reduction of 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year is expected.
The heat accumulator was built quite centrally on a plot of land close to the city centre. This means that it can be connected to the grid without significant heat losses. In order to optimally integrate the heat storage into its surroundings, the outer wall will be designed in a colour gradient from green to light blue, birds will be provided with nesting opportunities and sports enthusiasts can look forward to a new bouldering wall that will be attached to the pump building.
According to project manager Andreas Küpper (in the picture on the far right), it was important for SWK to have a strong partner with a lot of expertise in the construction of heat accumulators who could also meet the ambitious schedule. The heat storage should be in operation by the 2023/2024 heating season.
In the interview, Andreas Küpper praised the smooth cooperation and the constructive and continuous exchange with the construction management on site. In addition, they are very pleased that the schedule could be adhered to despite all the weather conditions.
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