Vienna expands climate‑friendly district heating and cooling infrastructure

In Vienna’s 3rd district, a historic Gründerzeit apartment complex of 120 units is being switched from fossil‑fuel heating to district heating. The conversion, led by DONAU Versicherung and utility Wien Energie, includes a full thermal renovation of the six‑building complex and connection to the city’s district‑heat network, which already supplies over 480,000 apartments. Wien Energie aims to eliminate fossil fuels by 2040 and is investing about €1 billion in expanding renewable heat sources such as waste heat, large heat pumps and biomass.

At the same time, the city is coping with a new heatwave, with temperatures forecast up to 40 °C. During the June heatwave, district‑cooling demand rose by up to 60 %. Wien Energie has commissioned an ice‑storage plant at the MedUni campus, which freezes water into a large “ice cube” that can release stored cooling during peak heat. The district‑cooling system, which reduces CO₂ emissions by roughly 50 % compared with conventional air‑conditioning, is slated for a €100 million expansion to keep public buildings, hospitals and residential areas functional during extreme heat.

Both projects illustrate Vienna’s strategy to combine historic building preservation with a low‑carbon heating and cooling transition, targeting substantial reductions in energy‑related emissions while maintaining city services under climate stress.