Pictured from left to right: Thomas Büchner, Managing Director of STRABAG Umwelttechnik GmbH; Dr. Gabriël Clemens, CEO of MVV; Christian Sadleder, Member of the Executive Board of STRABAG AG Austria, Head of Energy Infrastructure; Thomas Hörtinger, CTO of GKM; Dr. Hansjörg Roll, CTO of MVV.
Austrian contractor Strabag has been selected to build what will be the world’s largest heat pump installation, a 165MW dual-module system that will supply district heating to 40,000 households in Germany’s Rhine-Neckar region.
Austrian contractor Strabag has been selected by German utility MVV to construct the world’s largest heat pump installation, a 165MW system that will supply renewable district heating to 40,000 households in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region.
The installation will comprise two 82.5MW modules designed by Strabag Umwelttechnik in partnership with German engineer INP, utilizing Atlas Copco turbo compressors. The system will extract heat from Rhine River water and generate district heating at temperatures up to 130°C using isobutane as a natural refrigerant.
This marks Strabag’s second heat pump project at MVV’s Grosskraftwerk Mannheim (GKM) power plant. The development is part of a €200 million EU-funded efficient heating networks program.
MVV is also planning a hydrogen-ready post-heating system at the GKM site to supplement the heat pump during peak demand periods.
“We already cover nearly 50 percent of our district heating needs from renewable sources through thermal waste treatment, biomass CHP, and our first river-source heat pump,” said Dr. Hansjörg Roll, MVV’s chief technology officer. “The new installation, scheduled for winter 2028, will advance our path toward full decarbonization, along with an additional heat pump and regional geothermal development.”
Construction on both the heat pump and hydrogen post-heater is set to begin in 2026.
Myrna Whitaker 
Nils Lund 
Anna Broberg 
Lo Elmqvist 
