The municipality of Sandhausen and ENGIE Deutschland have signed an energy supply contracting agreement, which regulates the district heating supply for central facilities and residential areas in Sandhausen. From 1 August 2026, ENGIE Deutschland will be responsible for the operation and optimisation of the existing heating network for a period of 25 years, until 2051. This network comprises around 300 house connection stations and has an annual heat demand of approximately 6,000 megawatt hours. The focus is on the gradual decarbonisation of the energy supply in the coming decades.
The initiative in Sandhausen is considered one of the first projects for municipal heat planning in the region. Mayor Hakan Günes emphasised that the municipality and ENGIE Deutschland are concretely implementing the heating transition locally, focusing on predictability and a reliable, climate-friendly heat supply for citizens.
The transformation process for decarbonising heat generation is divided into several phases. At the start of supply in 2026, the network will initially operate on gas. For 2027, the construction of a new gas condensing boiler and the creation of a transformation plan under BEW Module 1 are planned. A significant step is the establishment of a pellet boiler system by 2030, which is then expected to cover around 80 percent of heat generation. The gas condensing boiler will serve for peak load and redundancy coverage, supplemented by a combined heat and power plant for operational electricity. From 2040, the conversion of gas-dependent generators to biomethane is planned, aiming for a heat supply with 100 percent renewable energies.
The planned measures will lead to a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions. A reduction from approximately 1,068 tonnes in 2026 to around 310 tonnes in 2030 is expected, which corresponds to a decrease of about 71 percent. After the 25-year contract period expires in 2051, the heat generation plants will become the property of the municipality of Sandhausen.
Niklas Wiegand, Managing Director of ENGIE Deutschland GmbH, highlighted that the project in Sandhausen demonstrates how municipal heat planning can be put into practice. ENGIE Deutschland contributes both technical expertise and experience in financing and funding to gradually convert existing networks to renewable energies. The connected households in Sandhausen will be looked after by a team from the nearby Ludwigshafen branch. End customers will have access to a customer portal designed to provide transparency regarding consumption and prices. Furthermore, all house connection stations will be periodically renewed, maintained, and equipped with calibrated, remotely readable heat meters over the contract term.
The project in Sandhausen is to be supported by the Federal Funding for Efficient Heating Networks (BEW) via Modules 1 (Transformation Plan) and 2 (Systemic Funding). ENGIE Deutschland has extensive experience in municipal heat transition and operates approximately 100 of its own heating networks nationwide. The company assists municipalities, such as Tettnang, on the path to climate-friendly heat supply, to establish these projects as role models for other towns and communities in Germany.
