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Groundbreaking ceremony for climate-friendly district heating
From left to right: Marcus Krüger (Leipzig Public Utilities), Jean-Marc Durand (Director of Refining Basechem Europe TotalEnergies), Vincent Stoquart (President of Refining & Chemicals TotalEnergies), Karsten Rogall and Dr Maik Piehler (Management Board of Leipzig Public Utilities), Burkhard Jung (Mayor of Leipzig), Dirk Panter (Minister of State in the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour, Energy and Climate Protection), Thomas Behrends (CEO TotalEnergies Refinery Central Germany), Marc Pecquet (TotalEnergies), ©TotalEnergies

CAC and TotalEnergies bring industrial waste heat from Leuna to Leipzig

Groundbreaking ceremony for climate-friendly district heating

Today saw the groundbreaking ceremony for the “District Heating Project” in Leuna, marking the official launch of the project, which is a milestone for climate-friendly heat supply in Central Germany. As engineering partner to TotalEnergies Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland (TRM), CAC ENGINEERING GMBH is playing a key role in supplying industrial waste heat for climate friendly district heating from the Leuna chemical site to the city of Leipzig.

In the implementation of this project, CAC ENGINEERING will be responsible for extensive parts of the value chain – from detail design and procurement support, authority engineering through to site supervision and commissioning support. 

This cross-border project is a milestone for energy transition in Central Germany. From the end of 2027, a district heating pipeline with a length of approximately 19 kilometers is to feed the inevitable process waste heat from several TRM refinery units into network the of the public utility company Stadtwerke Leipzig to be used for energy purposes. CAC implements the concept, which is based on a network of heat exchangers and essentially involves the integration of plate and high-performance spiral heat exchangers. This means that the process waste heat generated in the refinery is no longer released into the environment, but is used efficiently to produce hot water.

"The District Heating Project will create a real flagship project right on our doorstep. Together with TRM and Stadtwerke Leipzig, we are giving a strong signal for the decarbonization of heat supply - a project that requires courage, technical expertise, and trusting cooperation," says Jörg Engelmann, CEO of CAC ENGINEERING.

By utilizing the previously unused waste heat from TotalEnergies' production facilities it will be possible to cover around 38 percent of Leipzig's district heating requirements – in purely mathematical terms, this corresponds to supplying around 100,000 households. Through this approach, Stadtwerke Leipzig strengthens affordable heating prices and makes a decisive contribution to the decarbonization of municipal heat supply.

Thomas Behrends, General Manager of TotalEnergies Refinery Central Germany, emphasized: "With this project, our refinery sends a powerful signal for the future of energy supply in the region and takes responsibility for the transition toward greater sustainability. Our refinery is pursuing an ambitious CO₂ roadmap - we intend to reduce emissions by more than half by 2030. This project is another important step in that direction."
 Today's groundbreaking ceremony marks the official start of the project. In addition to the project managers from CAC, TRM and Stadtwerke Leipzig, Dirk Panter (Minister of Economic Affairs of Saxony) and Burkhard Jung (Mayor of Leipzig) will also be in attendance.