Municipal Heat Plan Nauen
09/16/2025 | Reading time 4 min
09/16/2025 | Reading time 4 min
Overview
We were allowed to develop the municipal heat plan for the town of Nauen in cooperation with key stakeholders from the town administration, energy suppliers, and housing companies.
Client
City of Nauen, FB 60 | Construction
Funding period
01.03.24 - 28.02.25
Municipal Heat Planning for the City of Nauen
According to the Federal Heat Planning Act, municipalities are obliged to carry out communal heat planning. The town of Nauen started heat planning early in order to secure funding and create planning security for its residents.
The municipal heat plan is a strategic planning instrument that sets out how the town of Nauen can achieve a comprehensive, climate-neutral, and affordable heat supply by the target year of 2045. This fits in with the town’s mission statement and its status as a pioneer in the expansion of renewable energies. Among other things, the Nauen Platte has a symbolic effect as one of the densest wind farms in Germany. Climate-neutral heat is therefore closely linked to the town’s orientation. In addition, renewable energies create location advantages and are an essential argument for the settlement of new companies in this day and age. The heat plan thus fits into a larger picture and provides the basis for the creation of further, new synergies.
The planning area
Nauen is a medium-sized town in the heart of the Havelland region in the state of Brandenburg, about 35 km from the center of the German capital, Berlin.
Nauen covers an area of approx. 268.2 km² and is divided into the core town of Nauen and the associated districts of Berge, Bergerdamm, Börnicke, Groß Behnitz, Kienberg, Klein Behnitz, Lietzow, Markee, Neukammer, Ribbeck, Schwanebeck, Tietzow, Wachow, and Waldsiedlung, as shown in the following figure.
The inventory analysis of the heat plan shows that heat demands and greenhouse gas emissions correlate in the individual sectors. The highest demands and emissions are currently found in the residential buildings sector, followed by commerce, trade, services / other. Measures must be taken here to continuously reduce heat demands.
It was shown that due to the rural character of Nauen, there are low heat requirements across the board. Only in the core town / old town and in the Nauen-Ost industrial area are there moderate to higher heat requirements.
Currently, the majority of Nauen’s heat demand is covered by natural gas. Exceptions are the district heating in Ribbeck and the core town (Karl-Bernau-Ring), liquid gas networks in Groß Behnitz and Quermathen, and the use of liquid gas and heating oil in the local areas.
To check for heat network suitability, the heat line densities were determined as part of the heat planning. High densities are found in the old town, the south and west of the core town, and outside the core town only in the industrial areas (Tietzow, Börnicke, Markee, and Nauen-Ost).
In order for the heat transition to succeed, district heating in the core town must be significantly expanded according to the developed target scenario. The heat should be provided primarily from the waste heat of the data center located there. A full cost statement shows that the expansion and redesign of district heating is economically and socially viable.
For the decentralized supply of areas with low heat line density, the technologies of near-surface geothermal energy and air heat pumps have proven to be suitable. Outside the core town, the heat supply in the target year 2045 will be primarily ensured by these heating systems.
The heat plan of the town of Nauen is a strategic tool for bundling the activities of the heat transition and creating synergies. However, the heat plan only marks the starting point of the upcoming transformation. In the following years, the heat plan will be successively updated and adapted to developments.
Gallery
Services
Theta Concepts GmbH supported the town of Nauen in the communal heat planning as a general contractor. The following services were provided:
- Stakeholder analysis and continuous involvement of key actors throughout the heat planning process,
- Company research and real data inquiry as well as individual interviews
- Development of a communication strategy including accompanying public participation and planning and implementation of information evenings,
- Presentation and discussion of results in political committees,
- Data acquisition,
- Preparation of the inventory and potential analysis,
- Creation of the target scenario and relevant intermediate target scenarios including heat transition strategy and catalog of measures,
- Drafting of the heat plan,
- Development and maintenance of a GIS-based digital twin.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the town of Nauen and the participating stakeholders for the very pleasant cooperation and the trust they have placed in us. We are pleased to have made a contribution to the heat transition with the heat plan.
Dr.-Ing. Dorian Holtz
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