AQVA-HEAT III

The AQVA-HEAT III project, which is funded as part of the energy and climate funding guideline of the state of Saxony, is the first demonstration and scientific monitoring of the AQVA-HEAT concept and its integration into an interacting overall system. At the Weißwasser site, a standing body of water (brick pond) serves as a heat source and the heat generated is supplied to a decentralized building as required. At the Zittau site, a watercourse (Mandau) serves as the heat source and the central district heating network of Stadtwerke Zittau GmbH serves as the heat sink. As part of the seasonal testing of the overall system from a technological perspective, extensive water ecology monitoring will be carried out to assess the ecological impact of the plant operation on the water bodies. The seasonal testing will be accompanied by extensive scientific and economic studies of the individual components and the overall system. In addition to the development of a superordinate automation system including the interaction with the body of water (heat source) and the heat extraction structures to be supplied (heat sink), the system components and the overall system will be optimized. The plant infrastructure set up and commissioned as part of the infrastructure measure (AQVA-HEAT II) provides the basis for a broad investigation of the “heat supply” application and also enables research and development activities on the topic of “water as a refrigerant in supply infrastructures” to be anchored in the network described. The findings gained from the first-time demonstration of the overall process during the seasonal trials on the ecological impact on water bodies provide the basis for an approval guideline to be developed. To this end, the project is being carried out in close cooperation with the relevant authorities in order to raise awareness of a new approach to tapping water bodies as a powerful source of heat.