WarmteStad receives Certificate of Merit at the 2026 Global District Energy Climate Awards
WarmteStad, the public heat company of the municipality of Groningen and a partner of Gradyent since 2024, has been recognized with a Certificate of Merit in the Modernization category at the 9th Global District Energy Climate Awards – an international acknowledgment of its ambitious approach to sustainable heating and commitment to an inclusive energy transition.
The Municipality of Groningen has strong sustainability ambitions and is considered a national leader in the transition. To achieve its objectives for decarbonized heating, the municipality founded WarmteStad in 2014. Since then, the company has been building a new district heating network that now already supplies 10% of the city.
“WarmteStad is honored to be recognized at the 9th Global Climate District Energy Awards. Though Groningen sits on top of the once Europe’s largest natural gas field, the Municipality of Groningen is a national frontrunner in becoming carbon neutral. Consequently, the municipality founded WarmteStad as a publicly owned district heating company to accelerate the decarbonization of heating.
In under a decade, we have already built and connected >10% of the city (~40 GWh p.a.) and are expanding rapidly toward our goal connecting 65%. Our renewable heat system lowers energy costs and strengthens our community. By uniting data center waste heat, heat pumps, a 37,000m2 solar thermal field, one of the largest in Europe, and 1,000,000m3 ATES seasonal storage, our system is not only sustainable, but also is more resilient.”
Theo Venema, Sr. Business Developer at WarmteStad
A future‑focused partnership built on innovation
WarmteStad partnered with Gradyent to implement a Digital Twin, optimizing its complex district heating system. The goal is to maximize efficiency savings and capitalize on the flexibility opportunity on volatile electricity markets. The Digital Twin not only optimizes the heat production assets, but also the forward temperatures in the distribution, reducing heat losses and maximizing the COP of the heat pump.
WarmteStad’s recognition at the Global District Energy Climate Awards underscores the company’s leadership in sustainable heating and its commitment to a just energy transition.
As WarmteStad continues to expand its system to achieve its goal of building a resilient, sustainable heating system, Gradyent is proud to support the company on this journey, contributing to a future-proof heating system that leverages real-time optimization to manage complexity, enhance flexibility, and support sustainable expansion. This award is a recognition of what is possible when public ambition, technical innovation, and community engagement come together.