Municipal heating planning for the Rhein-Hunsrück district

Project structure and process

As part of the project, a comprehensive inventory analysis of all buildings to be supplied was first carried out. This involved recording heat consumption and heat requirements, existing heating systems, and building-specific information such as type of use, age of construction, and renovation status. A digital questionnaire was used to refine the data collection. All collected data was processed in heatbeat Digital Twin with precise addresses, aggregated into building blocks in compliance with data protection regulations, and made available to the Rhein-Hunsrück district for publication on the district's own GIS portal. Based on this, a potential analysis was carried out, which identified both energy savings through renovation and optimization as well as locally available potential for renewable energies and waste heat. These were visualized for specific areas in order to create a sound basis for decision-making.

The next step was to develop the target scenario for municipal heat planning. This includes a georeferenced representation of the future heat supply, suitable areas for decentralized individual supply and heat networks, urban development policy objectives, and concrete proposals for measures with brief descriptions. In addition, the potential greenhouse gas reduction, a cost framework, and financing options were determined.

The heat transition strategy specifies the path to implementing the target scenario. To this end, heat sinks and sources were brought together, a transformation path was presented based on reference years, and measures for short-term implementation were prioritized.

Accompanying these technical work packages, project partner EMCEL GmbH was responsible for public relations, stakeholder management, and project management. Together with heatbeat and EMCEL, interactive workshops were held with municipal and regional stakeholders, in which interim results were presented and further developed jointly. The project was concluded with detailed documentation and reporting, as well as a public information event with over 100 participants on site, which was also streamed online.

Use of the digital twin

The heatbeat digital twin formed the central platform for visualizing and analyzing all project-related data. The block-specific mapping of building information and renewable potential provided a precise and transparent basis for decision-making. The digital twin also enabled the georeferenced representation of the target scenario and supported the development of a realistic transformation path for the municipal heat transition.