Within the joint research project ENavi, the GFZ is looking at strategies for the Wärmewende (heat transition) using case studies and living labs in the metropolitan Berlin-Brandenburg region (Working package 13A, Task 13).

The GFZ is building and coordinating an interface between the activities of ENavi and the Zwanzig20 Forum Wärmewende, to allow these two networks to complement each other. The Zwanzig20 Forum Wärmewende brings practical uses to the consortium – local enterprises and stakeholders for the Wärmewende. The Forum, which concentrates mainly on Eastern Germany, develops strategies for the use of innovative technologies to implement the Wärmewende, where the use of renewable energies to provide an efficient heating system to our cities of the future is the central goal. We develop local integration approaches in the scale of a city quarter together with partners from the energy industry and local authorities.

Aside from technological solutions, for a pilot project of this scale we also consider the acceptability and socio-economic factors of a market launch.

Pilot projects serve as in-situ test laboratories for our partners and open up new possibilities for parallel research within the joint research project. The forum links science with innovative and technological companies, as well as producers of heat and power.

Feasibility studies on the subject of the Wärmewende will be conducted during the project duration and practical examples will be presented to the consortium. These examples of practical uses can serve as a basis for further research within the project and provide input for the energy navigation system. The ENavi project also serves as a base for future projects which will be developed on a regional scale.