WärmeEngel

Making Waste Heat Usable – Protecting the Climate 

Using excess heat efficiently and protecting the climate: this is the principle of the “WärmeEngel.” The aim of the project is to make use of the waste heat from the combined heat and power plants powered by landfill and biogas at the Leppe Disposal Center in Lindlar and to transport it using an innovative storage system. This system is intended to heat the Dieringhausen Vocational College in Gummersbach, with the goal of reducing the CO₂ emissions of public buildings. 

The project takes place as part of the REGIONALE 2025 Bergisches RheinLand under the funding call “The Best of Both Worlds – Climate-Friendly Urban Energy Solutions” and contributes to practically implementing energy solutions for rural areas.

Heat Transport by Truck

WärmeEngel operates based on the principle of pocket warmers: Heat is absorbed in mobile latent heat storage units, transported by truck, and fed into heating systems on-site.

As part of the demonstration project, the Dieringhausen Vocational College is to be supplied largely with green heat. With an annual heat demand of 910,000 kWh, it is one of the largest public heat consumers in the Oberbergischer district. The vocational college is located about 16 kilometers from the Leppe Disposal Center.
 

Cooperation Partners

The WärmeEngel project is a joint initiative of the following project partners:

• Oberbergischer Kreis

• Bergischer Abfallwirtschaftsverband (BAV)

• TH Köln

The Bergischer Abfallwirtschaftsverband is responsible for providing waste heat, loading the mobile storage units at the Leppe disposal center, and managing the entire logistics of heat transport.

TH Köln is responsible for developing measurement and evaluation concepts. This includes implementing measurement technology at the heat source and sink, data analysis, and the subsequent overall energy evaluation of the system.

Planning and Implementation

An engineering office will be commissioned to plan and implement the necessary construction measures. The construction measures at the Leppe disposal center and the Dieringhausen vocational college are to be completed by the middle of next year.

Funding

The project has a total budget of around 1.5 million euros. Following a successful application, a funding approval was granted from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The funding amounts to 80% and is provided by the European Union and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.