Heat, Gas and Water: Smart Solutions for Modern Utility Networks

Germany’s heat transition is vital for reaching climate goals. Municipal utilities have always worked to improve heat supply – but now, municipal heat planning makes this legally binding. By 2030, half of the country’s heat must come from sustainable sources. District heating and sector coupling are crucial. WAGO provides the tools to make this transition cost-effective and achievable.

It’s time to accelerate the energy transition by hitting the gas. Yes, you read that right: gas! Currently, gas covers about a quarter of Germany’s total primary energy consumption – and unlike natural gas, gaseous energy carriers will remain essential in the future. This also applies to supply networks. From power-to-gas storage systems to modern gas distribution stations, WAGO’s solutions deliver proven safety and reliability in hazardous environments.

Is water becoming the new gold? According to BDEW, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, it is already clear that climate change, nitrate pollution, and trace substances from chemical and pharmaceutical products are contributing to this. These factors are causing extreme peaks in demand and significantly altering the water balance. Ensuring a reliable water supply and effective wastewater treatment is more critical than ever. To meet these challenges, water supply and disposal systems must be adapted for the future. WAGO technology plays a key role in supporting this transition.

In Flensburg, they make their own electricity – and, for more than 30 years, have done so in connection with a district heating network. When it commissioned a new gas and steam turbine system in the fall of 2016, this city on the Baltic Sea bid adieu to coal; it now uses natural gas for the district power-heat coupling. In parallel, this city in Schleswig-Holstein also modernized its district heating network. Control technology from WAGO is used for the decentralized control, as well as the connection to the remote monitoring.

People tend to think that at this point, the energy transition is limited to just the electrical sector. But DREWAG NETZ GmbH is going a step further and modernizing its gas distribution stations to bring intelligence to its gas division. For this process, the company relies on automation solutions from WAGO.

Sector coupling, digitization and customer orientation – these are the focuses of the energy service provider Avacon Natur. They increase the efficiency of the energy systems and district heating systems and provides demand-driven information. Above all, sector coupling – integrated control for heat, electrical and electromobility – requires digital data acquisition.

To operate the Förmitztal dam, the Hof water authority measures a variety of water levels, including groundwater, seepage, inflows and outflows. The hydrostatic pressure that loads the dam is also monitored at various points to guarantee the safety of the structure. With help from WAGO, the water authority automated some of the monitoring levels as part of the modernization measures taken in 2013.