The potential analysis shows which heat sources and energy potentials are available in the area surrounding your district – from waste heat, wastewater treatment plants and surface water to geothermal and solar thermal energy, biomass and renewable power generation. Within a few minutes you obtain a sound basis for decisions on further heat and energy planning.
What is the potential analysis used for?
Every heat planning process starts with the question of which energy sources are viable at a given site. The potential analysis answers this question with data and replaces the time-consuming manual research across individual technical portals and geoportals. Typical applications are energy concepts for new-build and existing districts, municipal heat planning, and feasibility studies, which require a systematic survey and assessment of the available heat sources and potentials.
How the analysis works
- Create your district in nPro.
- Define the analysis radius and start the potential analysis.
- Review the results for each data layer: occurrence, key figures such as area or capacity, and distance to the district boundary.
Which potentials are included in the analysis?
The analysis covers four categories of energy potentials. For each data layer it is checked whether – and to what extent – a potential exists in the surroundings of the district. Where useful, additional key figures such as area, capacity or the distance to the district boundary are reported.
Anthropogenic heat sources
Waste heat from industry and commerce
The analysis checks whether waste heat sources are available around the district. To do so, it evaluates the locations of industrial and commercial companies with waste heat potential, together with their thermal capacity and load profiles.
Existing heat networks
The analysis checks whether heat networks already exist around the district. Connecting to an existing network can be an economical and quickly implementable option for heat supply, complementing or replacing the development of new heat sources.
Wastewater treatment plants (wastewater heat)
Wastewater treatment plants continuously release heat via the treated effluent, which can be used with large-scale heat pumps. The analysis identifies treatment plants around the district and reports their design capacity (population equivalents) as well as the annual wastewater volume.
Natural heat sources
Surface water
Rivers, lakes and other surface waters offer potential for climate-friendly heat supply via heat pumps. The analysis records water bodies around the district including type, area and width (for watercourses). It also checks whether a water body lies within a water protection area.
Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal systems convert solar irradiation directly into heat and can contribute both to domestic hot water preparation and to space heating. The analysis assesses the solar thermal potential based on the site-specific irradiation conditions. The yield is calculated for a standard flat-plate collector at three collector temperatures (50 °C, 70 °C and 90 °C) in order to reflect different applications and temperature levels of the heat supply.
Deep geothermal energy and drinking water protection areas
Deep geothermal energy uses heat from deep rock layers and, depending on the geological conditions, can provide a weather-independent heat source suitable for base load. The analysis checks whether petrothermal or hydrothermal potentials (proven or assumed) are present at the district location and reports the expected temperatures. The position relative to water protection areas is also taken into account.
Renewable fuels
Biogas and solid biomass are storable, renewable fuels that can be used flexibly for heat and power generation. The analysis considers two aspects: existing biogas and biomass plants around the district, each with the distance to the district boundary, and the share of land suitable for biomass within the analysis area as an indicator of the local supply.
Renewable power generation
Renewable electricity from wind, photovoltaic and hydropower plants is a key element of decarbonisation and can also contribute to climate-friendly heat supply through sector coupling, for example by operating heat pumps. The analysis records existing wind, photovoltaic and hydropower plants around the district and reports the installed capacity as well as the distance to the district boundary for each of them.
Data sources
The data is based on a combination of several official and open data sources. These are merged and harmonised in a uniform data model to ensure a consistent and reliable data basis.
| Potential | Source/dataset | Relevant data | As of | Attribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waste heat | Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BfEE): waste heat platform | Location, address, annual heat quantity (kWh/a), max. thermal capacity (kW), temperature level, availability, monthly capacity profile (kW), supplementary information | 2022 | bfee-online.de |
| Existing heat networks | Federal Statistical Office (Destatis): 2022 census, table “Buildings with living space by predominant type of heating in grid cells” | Grid cells with district heating share | 2022 | destatis.de |
| Wastewater treatment plants | Kommunales Abwasser (municipal wastewater) | Coordinates, name, design capacity, wastewater volume | 2022 | kommunales-abwasser.de |
| Surface water | Geofabrik: Germany | Geometry, type, name | 2026 | download.geofabrik.de |
| Deep geothermal energy | Geothermal Information System (GeotIS), LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics: overview maps | Geometry, category (petrothermal/hydrothermal), temperature | 2013 | geotis.de1 |
| Biogas, biomass, wind, PV and hydropower plants | Zenodo: Geo-locations and System Data of Renewable Energy Installations in Germany | Geometry, type, location, capacity, year of commissioning | 2021 | zenodo.org |
| Land use | CORINE Land Cover 2018 (vector/raster 100 m), Europe, 6-yearly | Category | 2018 | land.copernicus.eu2 |
| Water protection areas | BfG geoportal: water protection area (Wasserschutzgebiete-DE) | Geometry, name | 2026 | geoportal.bafg.de3 |
| Water protection areas | LUBW 4.0 data and map service | Geometry, name | 2026 | rips-datenlink.lubw.de4 |
References
- Data source: © LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics. Reference citation: Agemar, T., Alten, J., Ganz, B., Kuder, J., Kühne, K., Schumacher, S. & Schulz, R. (2014): The Geothermal Information System for Germany – GeotIS. ZDGG 165(2), 129–144. Further references: geotis.de/homepage/references
- Generated using European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information.
- © WasserBLIcK/BfG & competent authorities of the federal states, 2026-04-02.
- Based on data from the Environmental Information System (UIS) of the LUBW State Institute for the Environment Baden-Württemberg.
Notes on data accuracy and suitability
The reported potentials are based on public and official data sources; coverage, timeliness and level of detail may vary regionally. The analysis serves to pre-select possible heat sources and does not replace a site assessment, permitting procedure or feasibility study. No warranty is given for correctness, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose.
Potential analysis for your district
The potential analysis is part of the Plus license and can be run directly for any project in nPro.