Electrification of Stegerwaldsiedlung

A European utility established a smart city district with more than 700 apartments and decentralized energy assets. GreenCom integrated all assets like heat pumps, district heating, PV and storage batteries onto its platform and optimizes energy flows in the district. The electrification and optimization resulted in fewer emissions, increased independence, customer satisfaction and involvement.

Built in 1953 the Stegerwaldsiedlung was the first large settlement in Cologne, Germany, after World War II. Today, the quarter is set to become one of the most advanced ones in Cologne. 700 apartments participating in the Grow Smarter Initiative are being refurbished to reduce emissions and increase the autonomous supply of electricity and heat. To this end, a multitude of decentralized energy assets were installed and integrated with GreenCom’s Energy Information Brokerage Platform (eibp). In total all assets provide:

• 230 kWp of solar PV capacity
• 120 kWh of battery storage capacity
• 41,9 kWel of heat pump capacity
• 36 kWel of heating blade capacity
• 12.000 litres of storage tanks
• 520 kW of district heating

With GreenCom’s eibp all assets were integrated and energy flows in the district visualized. By optimizing theses energy flows independence from external energy supply is maximized. Also, the resulting flexibility is being utilized to stabilize the grid and to react upon wholesale market price. These benefits were achieved:

• Less emissions – eliminated 60 % of customer's CO2 emissions
• Increased independence – 70 % of energy supply originate from local sources within the district
• Increased customer retention through end-to-end service offering (electricity, heat and mobility)
• Increased customer satisfaction and involvement

The initiative has been funded with 8 Million Euro by the European Union and aims to reduce CO2 emissions of the Stegerwaldsiedlung by 60 percent. Dr. Christian Feißt, CEO of GreenCom Networks says: “With the Stegerwaldsiedlung we have proven that electrification can be beneficial for all involved parties – utilities manage energy flows, customers enjoy more comfort and last but not least: the environment is less plagued by emissions.”