Implenia to build district heating tunnel under the Elbe
Glattpark (Opfikon), 20 December 2021 – Implenia has been asked by project owner Wärme Hamburg to build a tunnel under the River Elbe for Hamburg’s new district heating network. The project is worth around CHF 75 million (EUR 72 million), and Implenia is responsible for the detailed design and basic construction of the tunnel and the district heating pipe, as well as for planning and installing the required operating technology. Implenia has been working on the design since October 2021 (Phase 1). It has now been given the contract for the further planning and construction, commencing at the start of 2022 (Phase 2).
District heating generation in Hamburg is set to change fundamentally over the next few years. Central power plants north of the Elbe are being decommissioned and replaced by an efficient and decentralised district heating network. Climate-neutral waste heat is being taken from various sources, including a waste recycling plant, the wastewater heat pump of a sewage treatment plant and other energy-intensive industrial operations south of the Elbe. The heat will be combined in a storage circuit and brought to the required temperature. A new Elbe tunnel is needed to reach consumers north of the River Elbe. This will be drilled about two kilometres west of the Elbe Tunnel on the A7 motorway, from Köhlfleethafen near Finkenwerder to the Elbchaussee on the north bank.
Implenia’s Special Foundations department is creating diaphragm walls up to 42 metres deep for the start and end shafts. A tunnel boring machine will drill a 1.16-kilometre-long tunnel between the two shafts with a diameter of around 4.5 metres, and lined with precast concrete sections. Access and operating equipment will be built into the two shafts for future use. The contract also includes installation of the technical building equipment and the district heating pipe with supply and return flow.
Erwin Scherer, Head Tunnelling at Implenia, is excited about the project acquisition: “We are very pleased to be handling this large and complex infrastructure project for our customer Wärme Hamburg. The fact that we are helping improve the sustainability of heat generation in the city is an additional motivation for us, because sustainability is one of Implenia’s corporate values – and one we can fulfil in this project.”
The work should be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
Contact for media:
Corporate Communications, T +41 58 474 74 77, communication@implenia.com
Contact for Investors and Analysts:
Investor Relations, T +41 58 474 35 04, ir@implenia.com
Agenda
1 March 2022: Media and analysts’ conference on the 2021 full-year results
29 March 2022: Annual General Meeting
As Switzerland’s leading construction and real estate service provider, Implenia develops and builds homes, workplaces and infrastructure for future generations in Switzerland and Germany. It also plans and builds complex infrastructure projects in Austria, France, Sweden and Norway. Formed in 2006, the company can look back on around 150 years of construction tradition. The company brings together the know-how of its highly skilled consulting, planning and execution units under the umbrella of an integrated leading multi-national construction and real estate service provider. With its broad offering and the extensive experience of its specialists, the Group can realise complex major projects and provide customer-centric support across the entire life-cycle of a building or structure. It focuses on customer needs and on striking a sustainable balance between commercial success and social and environmental responsibility. Implenia, with its headquarters in Opfikon near Zurich, employs more than 8,500 people in Europe and posted revenue of almost CHF 4 billion in 2020. The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (IMPN, CH0023868554). More information can be found at implenia.com.
