Interreg North Sea WaterWarmth (2023-2026)

Project description

WaterWarmth aims to raise awareness about the potential of Aquathermal Energy (AE) as a renewable energy source for heating and cooling. This is important because it leads to: reduced carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions; decreased air pollution; generating ones’ own energy; and making more efficient use of energy and resources.

We achieve this through collaboration with public, private and civic twenty partners across six work packages, ultimately aiming to provide the knowledge necessary for collective energy initiatives. These work packages include researching how to intelligently utilize the local energy system, scaling up, and facilitating regulations and permits.

AE refers to the extraction, storage and distribution of heat from water. Within AE there are three different main sources to extract heat from: waste water, drinking water and surface water. With the help of a heat exchanger, warmth is extracted from a source and with the help of a heat pump this energy is used to bring water to an suitable temperature for heating and hot water supply. AE can also be used to cool buildings

CSTM (Thomas Hoppe) is involved in Work package 6 which addresses governance and innovation of AE systems. This includes development and use of a theoretical framework for analyzing current governance arrangements, policy and stakeholder engagement, while working with selected use cases, where we study the governance and scaling of AE innovation, and how to support communities in reaping its benefits. Partners include: Province of Fryslân (lead partner), Lund University, TU Delft, several cities and energy cooperatives.