With over 560,000 inhabitants, Dresden is a large city with very different districts, which in turn are divided into several neighbourhoods. In the centre and in the neighbouring districts, the neighbourhoods are densely built-up - here, the expansion of district and local heating networks is particularly suitable. In less densely built-up outer areas, on the other hand, there is more space for decentralised solutions such as heat pumps, preferably in combination with solar systems and battery storage. Smaller local heating networks are also possible here. At Dresden's industrial sites - especially where hydrogen is used directly as a raw material - and also at district heating plants, the provision of hydrogen via a dedicated pipeline network is planned for the future.
Urban structure and building stock
The building stock in Dresden, with its diversity, harbours particular challenges for the heating transition. There are old building neighbourhoods from the Wilhelminian era, villa districts, prefabricated housing estates from the GDR era and modern new buildings. Around ten per cent of the buildings are listed, which leads to special challenges when it comes to energy-efficient renovations. The large stock of apartment blocks is particularly characteristic, especially from the period before 1945. Many buildings were renovated after 1990, but there are still major differences in the renovation status.
Energy consumption and greenhouse gases
The heating requirement in Dresden (excluding industrial processes) is currently (2021) around 4.6 billion kilowatt hours per year. Around half of the heating requirement is still covered by natural gas and around 43 per cent by district heating. Renewable energies have only played a minor role to date. This results in around 1 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year, which accounts for around a quarter of the city's total emissions. Residential buildings account for the largest share, followed by commercial and municipal properties.
Further details and the spatial distribution of heat demand density can be found in the energy atlas.
Heating network and infrastructure
Heating networks play a central role in the heat supply. District heating already reaches around 130,000 households. It mainly comes from combined heat and power generation with natural gas, but is gradually being made more climate-friendly. Local heating networks are currently only in use in a few neighbourhoods, but could be expanded more in the future. Around 4,000 decentralised heat pumps are already in use, and the trend is rising. In addition, DREWAG currently operates a cooling network at Neumarkt in Dresden, which provides cooling for hotels, shops and offices.
Dresden is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. To ensure a future-proof heat supply, renewable energies, the construction of heating networks and energy-efficient refurbishments must be significantly expanded. At the same time, decentralised solutions such as heat pumps and the use of solar energy are needed, which offer great opportunities, especially in less densely built-up parts of the city.
Further information on energy sources for heat supply in existing buildings can be found in the Energy Atlas.
