Green heat in the city – VEM provides the engine for a new heat transition project

The city of Berlin will be the setting for a pilot project that will make a significant contribution to the city's heat transition through the use of waste heat. For this venture, the initiators Siemens Energy and Vattenfallwärme Berlin AG also brought the engine manufacturer VEM on their side. The company produced the associated 2-pole asynchronous motor for the Qwark3 (district heat, power and cooling) project in order to combine heat, cold and electricity for the first time.

Refrigeration center at Potsdamer Platz

The so-called cooling center at Potsdamer Platz has been operated by Vattenfall (formerly Bewag) since 1997 and supplies around 12,000 offices, 1,000 apartments and various cultural institutions in the neighborhood with cold. The unused waste heat was previously released into the environment via cooling towers. In the Qwark3 pilot project, which is also funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, the waste heat is to be used by a high-temperature heat pump and fed into the city's district heating network.

Conserve the environment, live innovation

With the integration of this high-temperature heat pump, the generation of heat and cold can be combined in a resource-saving manner. Instead of releasing the waste heat into the environment, it is fed into the district heating network. In this way, an additional annual heat supply of 55 GWh is possible. This increases the energy efficiency of cooling generation and creates a new source of energy or heat for the city. The advantages of this method of energy recovery are, in particular, the annual saving of around 6,500 tons of CO2 emissions and 120,000 m3 of cooling water.

VEM as a reliable partner for specialized machines

VEM provided/manufactured the motor for the high-temperature heat pump. The traditional company was faced with the difficult task of producing a precisely fitting drive for the new application in limited space. Both the cooler and the main connection box were specially adapted to the structural conditions. Since the Qwark3 project was realized in the middle of a residential area, compliance with noise and environmental protection measures was also of great importance.

Vattenfallwärme Berlin AG and Siemens were looking for a reliable and flexible partner to build a special solution, which also had a high level of technical innovation due to the novelty of the project. VEM not only offered technically sophisticated solutions, but thanks to years of experience, it was also able to demonstrate a wealth of experience in customer-specific drive solutions.

The special technical parameters of the engine are as follows:

Design	Performance	Voltage	Nominal speed
DKMEF 5627-2V	3 MW	3.150 V	3.987 U/min

Fast delivery and technical insights

The engine was able to leave the VEM factory premises on March 8, 2022. The traditional company was a competent, reliable partner from start to finish, able to respond to all complications in the course of the project in a confident and customer-oriented manner right up to delivery. Even a short-term modification shortly before delivery was carried out efficiently and professionally at the customer's request. The project made a significant contribution to gaining further technical knowledge in the implementation of high-speed motors, with over 4,100 revolutions in converter operation, and represented an enrichment and expansion of knowledge. VEM is also looking forward to new and interesting pilot projects in the future, in which it can use its expertise and competence can demonstrate with individual solutions.