On October 23, Saxony's Energy Minister Wolfram Günther handed over the funding decision for the "AQVA HEAT III" research and development project to the HSZG and other project partners.
Press release from the Saxon State Ministry for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture dated 23.10.2024:
Saxony's Energy Minister Wolfram Günther handed over a funding decision for the "AQVA HEAT III" research and development projectto the project sponsors in Zittau on Wednesday (23.10.). The basic idea is to develop bodies of water as an efficient energy source for heat pumps (aquathermics). Instead of the fluorine-based refrigerants that have dominated up to now, a pumpable water-ice mixture is used. This avoids risks to the environment. The 3rd project phase now being funded comprises the commissioning, long-term testing and scientific monitoring of the research facilities. The funding amounts to a good 3.7 million euros until February 2027 and is being provided via the Energy and Climate funding program of the Saxon Ministry of Energy, which was newly established in 2023.
The project partners are the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (Institute for Process Engineering, Process Automation and Measurement Technology) as project coordinator, the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy IEG (Zittau and others) and the Institut für Luft- und Kältetechnik gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mbH (ILK Dresden). The project is supported by the Weißwasser and Zittau municipal utilities and the district of Görlitz. The support is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and state funds from the Free State of Saxony.