HFT and Friends of the Earth-CEPA met AGFW
Friends of the Earth-CEPA is pioneering work with Slovakian municipalities to demonstrate the benefits of replacing existing heating systems with innovative, renewable and sustainable solutions. With their application to W4RES, the project aims to get technical feedback on their pre-feasibility study of a low-temperature heating system in Partizánske and to network with experts in Germany.
HFT Stuttgart acts as a service provider in the W4RES project and supports Friends of the Earth- CEPA.
Through the contacts of the HFT Stuttgart, the link to the AGFW I Der Energieeffizienzverband für Wärme, Kälte und KWK e. V. was made. AGFW is an independent and neutral umbrella organization that promotes cogeneration, (district) heating and cooling on a national and international level. They are known for their broad expertise in technical, economic, legal, energy and environmental policy issues and have been active in these fields for more than 50 years as regulators and service providers. With its projects "UrbanTurn: Transformation of the urban district heating supply" and “RES-DHC: Transformation of existing urban district heating and cooling systems from fossil to renewable energy sources", AGFW is investigating existing German district heating networks with a view to improving the design criteria for switching to a higher share of renewable energies.
In an exchange, Friends of the Earth-CEPA was able to benefit from the results and experience regarding the design of district heating networks. Challenges in designing and building district heating networks in Slovakia concern the implementation of lower temperatures provided by, e.g., geothermal energy, as well as the limited willingness to integrate renewable energies into district heating.
For Friends of the Earth-CEPA, the exchange was particularly useful for further networking with similarly-sized municipalities in Germany that operate sustainable heating grids, and for providing a guideline and a technical leaflet on federal funding for efficient heating networks. AGFW expressed its sincere gratitude for the opportunity to gain insights into other countries and the international exchange made possible by W4RES.
