Project Overview
Location: Bremen, Germany
Application: District heating and cooling
Project scale: covering approximately 16 hectares, comprising around 650 residential units and commercial spaces
Commissioning date: April 2025
KSB Solution: 40 Etaline and Etabloc series pumps, PumpMeter monitoring devices, and external variable frequency drives
In the past, this site housed a factory that produced corn flakes. Today, this former industrial complex is being repurposed to create a vibrant neighborhood of warmth and coolness.
In Bremen, Germany, Uberseeinsel (Overseas Island) is being transformed from former industrial land into a 16-hectare urban district comprising approximately 650 residential units and a variety of commercial spaces.
Here, it is not only the question of "where the energy comes from" that needs to be addressed, but also a more practical issue: how can heat and cooling be reliably delivered whenever needed?
Hot and cold water supply must not "fail to deliver."
This regional energy system makes comprehensive use of wind energy, solar energy, and thermal energy from the Weser River.
Among these systems, a 5 MW river-water heat pump utilizes the Weser River as its heat source and can still participate in heating operations even when the river water temperature falls below 4 °C. A large-scale thermal storage system, ice slurry energy storage, power-to-heat modules, regional heating and cooling pipeline networks, and a self-learning predictive and operational system collectively coordinate the production, storage, and utilization of energy.
Bremen Overseas Island Energy and Heating Solution
Even more practically, a surface-level cold water energy storage facility can also serve as an ice skating rink, allowing this energy infrastructure to become an integral part of the neighborhood's daily life.
However, the greater the number of technologies, the more it tests the ability to collaborate among them.
Integrate dispersed devices into a unified system.
If the entire energy system were viewed as a building, the heat pump, the energy storage system, and the piping network would each fulfill their respective roles, while the hydraulic system would act as the circulation pathway running through the system, enabling energy carriers to flow as needed between the production end, the energy storage end, and the distribution network.
This is precisely the role KSB assumes within the project.
The project employs 40 KSB Etaline and Etabloc series end-suction pumps of various specifications, each equipped with a KSB Pump Meter monitoring device; external variable frequency drives are used for speed regulation, enabling the pumps to adapt to dynamically changing load requirements.
The core of the Energy Center: KSB Etaline series end-suction pumps
Ensure the stable and efficient operation of the power generation units
This configuration provides three types of support to the system:
* Adjust the operating mode based on actual requirements
* Enhance the operational reliability of the hydraulic system
* Make operational data more transparent to facilitate its integration into the energy management system
Here, pumps are not merely conveying equipment; they serve as the hydraulic infrastructure that connects the stages of energy production, storage, and utilization.
From the old industrial park to a new scenario for regional energy
After approximately four years of design and construction, Heating Centers No.1 and No.2 of the project were put into operation in April 2025.
From grain-producing factories to new residential districts that integrate living, work, and leisure, what is being transformed is not only the land use, but also the way energy is organized and utilized.
Reliable delivery and distribution: Etabloc series pumps equipped with PumpMeter
Ensure efficient and stable heating and cooling supply
As energy sources become increasingly diversified, stable and efficient operation depends not only on a single core piece of equipment, but also on whether each flow can be properly regulated and continuously monitored.
KSB provided a robust hydraulic foundation for this complex regional energy system through its pumps, monitoring equipment, and speed regulation solutions.