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5.08.2022

Green heat in the city – VEM supplies motor for innovative heat conversion project

Motor for high-temperature heat pump

The city of Berlin is the location of a pilot project that will contribute significantly to the city’s energy transformation by using waste heat. To assist them in this endeavour, project initiators Siemens Energy and Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG brought in motor manufacturer VEM. The company produced a 2-pole asynchronous motor for the Qwark3 (Quartiers-Wärme-Kraft-Kälte-Kopplung) project, which combines heating, cooling and electricity supply for the first time.

Cooling Centre at Potsdamer Platz

The Cooling Centre at Potsdamer Platz has been operated by Vattenfall (formerly Bewag) since 1997, and supplies cooling to around 12,000 offices, 1,000 homes and various cultural facilities in the neighbourhood. Until now, the residual waste heat was released through cooling towers in the area. In the Qwark3 pilot project, which is also funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, waste heat will be used by a high-temperature heat pump and fed into the city’s heating grid.

Protect the environment, live and breathe innovation

The integration of this high-temperature heat pump allows heating and cooling generation to be combined in a resource-saving manner. Instead of releasing the waste heat into the environment, it is fed back into the district heating grid. This makes possible an additional 55 GWh of heating annually. It also increases the energy efficiency of cooling, and provides a new source of energy or heat for the city. Other notable advantages of this energy recovery method are annual reductions of around 6,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions and 120,000m3 of cooling water.

VEM as a reliable partner providing specialised machines

VEM supplied the motor for the high-temperature heat pump. The company was faced with the difficult task of producing a customised drive for this new application, with tight spatial constraints. Both the cooler and the main terminal box were specially adapted to the structural requirements. To implement the Qwark3 project in the middle of a residential area, it was also very important to consider noise and environmental protection measures.

Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG and Siemens sought a reliable and flexible partner to build a customised solution, which demanded a high level of technical innovation due to the unprecedented nature of the project. VEM not only offered technically sophisticated solutions, but also brought a lot of experience with client-specific drive solutions, thanks to its many years of expertise in the field.

The motor’s basic parameters are:

Type of construction Power Voltage Rated speed
DKMEF 5627-2V 3 MW 3.150 V 3.987 U/min

 

Fast delivery and technical insights

The motor left the VEM premises on 8 March 2022. Throughout the process, the long-established company was a competent, reliable partner, responding in a confident, customer-oriented manner to any complications that arose, right through to delivery. Even a last-minute modification shortly before delivery was carried out efficiently and professionally according to the customer’s wishes. The project contributed significantly to the acquisition of increased technical understanding in the implementation of high-speed motors with over 4,100 rpm in inverter operation, representing an enrichment and expansion of existing knowledge. VEM looks forward to new and interesting pilot projects in future, in which it can demonstrate its expertise and competence with unique solutions.

Contact partner in the Nordic countries and Baltikum:

VEM motors Finland Oy
Sami Kujala 
Managing Director
Tel. +358 400 766 491

Source: news/vem-group.com

Author

VEM motors Finland Oy