Veolia Warsaw partners with Gradyent to optimize Europe’s largest district heating system
Veolia Warsaw has partnered with Gradyent to implement a real-time Digital Twin across Warsaw’s district heating system, building on similar deployments already underway in Veolia networks in Poznań and Łódź. With an annual heat demand of 11 TWh, Warsaw operates the largest district heating system in the European Union and the fourth largest globally, supplying around 80% of the city and serving more than 1.4 million residents.
The implementation of an end-to-end Digital Twin represents another step for Veolia Warsaw toward ensuring a secure heat supply for Warsaw residents, while supporting the modernization and decarbonization of one of the most complex energy systems in the world.
Europe’s largest district heating system enters a new era
Warsaw’s district heating system forms the backbone of the city’s infrastructure, providing a reliable heat supply to the vast majority of households and buildings in the capital. The network is not only the largest in the European Union, but also one of the most complex district heating systems in the world.
Veolia Warsaw is pursuing an ambitious, long-term strategy to modernize and decarbonize its system, while increasing operational flexibility to meet the city’s evolving energy needs. The integration of new low-carbon and electrified energy sources, together with the growing role of decentralized and external heat supplies, is taking the system to an entirely new level of operational complexity.
Managing production, distribution, and demand in real time, while responding to weather variability and dynamic energy prices, requires a new generation of decision-support technologies and accurate forecasting.
Advancing operational intelligence across the entire system
To support efficiency improvements, Veolia Warsaw has selected Gradyent’s real-time, end-to-end Digital Twin.
Gradyent was chosen for its proven ability to model and optimize large-scale district heating systems and deliver real-time operational insights based on highly accurate, physics-based modeling. The decision builds on successful deployments in other Veolia networks, including Poznań and Łódź, and reflects the continuation and further development of cooperation between the Veolia and Gradyent teams.
“It must be clearly stated that the energy transition will not happen through a single project or technology. It is a process in which district heating infrastructure must be managed with increasing precision. Our task is to apply solutions that make Warsaw’s district heating system more efficient, more flexible, and progressively lower in emissions.
The implementation of Gradyent’s Digital Twin in Warsaw’s district heating system aligns with the trend of combining technical investments with intelligent tools for managing energy infrastructure. This solution will enable better monitoring and modeling of network operations and, as a result, more efficient modernization planning and optimization of its performance.”
Bartłomiej Wrzosek, Member of the Management Board, Chief Operating Officer, Veolia Energia Warszawa
Optimizing operations at capital-city scale
Gradyent’s end-to-end Digital Twin will provide Veolia Warsaw with real-time insight into network parameters and control across the entire district heating system, enabling operators to manage it with greater precision.
With full visibility of system behavior, operators can optimize temperature and pressure levels, reduce heat losses, and seamlessly coordinate multiple heat sources, including supply from external providers. The Digital Twin also continuously identifies the most cost-effective heat sourcing options while maintaining hydraulic stability across the entire network.
These capabilities translate into improved operational efficiency, lower costs, and reduced CO₂ emissions. At the same time, the Digital Twin enables more stable operation at capital-city scale and increases overall system flexibility, allowing the system to adapt to changing operating conditions.
Ensuring reliable, affordable, and low-carbon heat for Warsaw residents
At the core of this partnership is a commitment to the 1.4 million residents who rely on Warsaw's heating system every day.
By enabling faster and better-informed operational decision-making, the Digital Twin allows Veolia Warsaw to respond quickly to changing conditions, whether driven by weather, demand fluctuations, energy prices, or unexpected events in the system. This increased responsiveness means a more stable and secure heat supply for residents, reduces the risk of disruptions, and helps maintain long-term affordability that can be delivered by an optimized large-scale district heating system.
The solution also directly supports Veolia Warsaw’s environmental commitments, contributing to measurable emissions reductions as the system continues to decarbonize.
Building Warsaw’s district heating system for the future
The advanced simulation capabilities of the Digital Twin allow Veolia Warsaw to model and test operational decisions before implementing them in the live system. This enables more proactive and confident planning as new low-carbon and electrified heat sources are integrated.
By continuously strengthening the system's flexibility and resilience, Veolia Warsaw is building a future-ready district heating system capable of supporting the capital's continued growth and achieving sustainability goals for generations to come.
"District heating systems across Europe are becoming more sophisticated as cities decarbonize and integrate new energy sources. We are proud to support Veolia Warsaw in optimizing one of the largest and most advanced heating systems in the world – enabling greater efficiency, flexibility, and control at capital-city scale."
Karol Jasiński, Business Development Director CEE, Gradyent