15.11.2023 | Press Release
Mainova and Infraserv Höchst want to use waste heat from Industriepark Höchst
Mainova AG and Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG want to cooperate on climate protection. Together, the two partners will examine how so-called "unavoidable waste heat" from Industriepark Höchst could be utilized for the future district heating supply of the city of Frankfurt. Dr. Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director of Infraserv Höchst, and Martin Giehl, CEO of Mainova, agreed to work together on this.
Infraserv Höchst has large quantities of unavoidable waste heat in the Industriepark as defined by the Heat Planning Act. At the same time, Mainova is driving forward the decarbonization of its own heat generation in Frankfurt am Main with various measures. These include the use of waste heat. As a first step, the Industriepark Höchst site operating company and the municipal utility are therefore investigating the conditions under which the unavoidable waste heat from the industrial park can be integrated into the system. One possible source of waste heat could be a planned data center on the Industriepark site. The Industriepark's recooling plants could also supply waste heat in the future.
"We want to further expand our existing cooperation with Infraserv Höchst and add future-oriented waste heat utilization," explains Mainova CEO Martin Giehl. "Our common goal is to make the city of Frankfurt's heat supply even more sustainable. In this way, we can reduce CO2 emissions and at the same time strengthen the security of supply with climate-friendly energy." Giehl went on to say that Mainova wants to be climate-neutral by 2040 at the latest. The company is investing over two billion euros in the next five years. However, the complete and technology-neutral decarbonization of the electricity and heating market in Frankfurt will require significantly higher investments.
"I'm pleased that we're stepping up our collaboration with Mainova to make waste heat use even more efficient in the future in the interests of sustainability," said Infraserv Managing Director Dr. Joachim Kreysing. Utilizing waste heat from production and waste disposal facilities has long been part of Infraserv Höchst's daily business. This heat has been fed into the site's supply networks for decades. In this way, Infraserv Höchst reduces its need for fossil fuels, although until now only high-temperature waste heat could be used. The cooperation between Infraserv Höchst and Mainova AG aims to include low-temperature waste heat sources such as recooling plants in a supply concept. Technological progress now makes such solutions possible in principle.
In the long term, the project partners are aiming to include further unavoidable waste heat from other Industriepark sources. This can additionally support the decarbonization of Mainova district heating and thus Frankfurt's climate targets.