Business Area Heat

Operating segment Heat comprises Vattenfall’s heating and condensing businesses, including waste-to-energy plants.

Interior of heating plant in Uppsala, Sweden.

We are one of Europe’s largest producers and distributors of district heating to growing metropolitan areas in north-western Europe including Berlin, Amsterdam, Uppsala, and Bristol. We are pioneering district heating solutions in other UK cities as well. Our district heating supply still relies on the operation of some large, combined heat and power plants (CHPPs), but with the sustainability targets of Vattenfall, we have widened our portfolio to include technologies like e-boilers, third-party excess heat infeed (TPI), and thermal waste utilisation.

We are increasing the share of flexible energy solutions such as large-scale heat pumps, utilisation of surplus renewable energies, storage options, and decentral micro CHPs. We are supplying heat to both B2B and B2C customers, including large private and publicly owned property companies and households. We see significant growth potential in the Netherlands, and the UK driven by transition of heat sources in these countries as well as property developments and densification in urban areas.

Strategy and targets

The 2022 energy crisis has made it even more evident that dependency on fossil fuels is untenable. For Vattenfall, decarbonising our heat operations follows our ambition to achieve net zero in 2040.

Vattenfall has finalised the strategic review of its Berlin heat business and has decided to sell the entire district heating business to the State of Berlin. The expected purchase price amounts to EUR 1.6 billion. The new owner will make additional substantial investments in the coming years, in order to generate 40 per cent of the district heating from renewable energy sources by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality. With the sale, around 1,700 employees will move to the new owner. Vattenfall and the State of Berlin plan to close the transaction in the second quarter of 2024.

In Sweden, operations will be 100 per cent fossil-fuel free by 2025. We aim to grow our customer base by implementing smart hybrid and decentralised low-carbon heating and cooling solutions for attractive and reliable heat supply.

Key data

^{1. Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability.}