Summer heat in Vienna: Starting distance of the Kälte-Expansion offensive!

Summer heat in Vienna: Starting distance of the Kälte-Expansion offensive!

With the first tropical night of 2025, the high season for long -distance cold began in Vienna. The nights in which the temperatures do not fall below 20 degrees increase, and this is also noticeable in the city's cooling requirements. Vienna Energie has continuously invested in the expansion of the remote cold network in recent years in order to meet the increasing requirements. In the summer of 2024, 53 tropical nights were counted in downtown Vienna, which underlines the urgency to adapt to the new climatic challenges. According to vienna.at Vienna is planning to put 90 million euros into the remote cold in the coming years.

The exchange of chillers in the long -distance cold center on the Schottenring was almost revolutionary. Here the old machines were replaced by modern, powerful devices, which increased the installed power by 1.9 megawatts to a total of 20 megawatts. A new remote cold center with a capacity of 6 megawatts in Siemensstrasse was also put into operation. This supplies the Central Hub office and business park and still has space for other customers. In order to meet the tips of the consumption and to ensure more efficient operation, an ice storage is also being built on the Meduni campus.

remote cold as a sustainable alternative

Foreign cold is a more ecological solution compared to conventional air conditioning systems. Especially last year, the cooling supplies in Austria's buildings increased by 28 percent, according to [the press] (https://www.diepresse.com/19540067/fern-die- Alternative-Zur-Klima system). In 2024, the warmest year was also in the measurement history of the Alpine Republic. The average temperature was 1.8 degrees higher than in the period from 1991 to 2020. Forecasts show that the energy requirement for cooling will be the same in the next 20 years as for heating. Less than 50 percent of the offices in Austria are currently air -conditioned, but in the future this proportion could increase up to 80 percent.

Why is it worth it? Long-distance cold saves around 70 percent of energy and 50 percent of CO2 emissions compared to conventional air conditioning systems. This is achieved primarily by the use of waste heat from industry, combined heat and power plants and waste incineration. The cold is handed over to the air conditioning systems via isolated pipes, which also requires central refrigeration distribution systems. These are mainly used in public and commercial buildings, whereas the subsequent installation in houses is often associated with high costs.

integration into new city quarters

The increasing demand for sustainable temperature regulations has also reached other Austrian cities. Linz, St. Pölten, Graz, Klagenfurt and Bregenz also rely on long -distance cold. In Vorarlberg, the Lake Constance water is used to create climate-neutral heating and cooling solutions for buildings. Sustainable temperature solutions such as earth probes are integrated in particular in new city quarters, such as the Village in the third party, in order to meet future cooling conditions.

The intelligent planning and the extensive expansion of the remote cold infrastructure are crucial to get closer to the climate goals and thus find a sustainable solution for the new heat period that is inevitably imminent. As reports [EnergynewsMagazine] (https://energynewsmagazine.at/2025/08/fernkaelt-die-coole- Alternative/), it is expected that the remote colder below the ring road means a significant progress that is completed earlier than planned and enables more efficient use of the central long-distance cold central.