KfW IPEX-Bank: Financing for Berliner Fernwärme

• EUR 1 billion financing for the largest district heating network in Western Europe
• Strong signal for the heating transition in Berlin

KfW IPEX-Bank is contributing EUR 100 million to a financing for BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH, in which eight banks are providing the company with a total of EUR 1 billion. The financing secures the company's capital requirements until at least the end of March 2027 and strengthens the basis for the long-term heating transition in Berlin. BEW, operator of the largest district heating system in Western Europe and the capital's central heating supplier, has thus successfully completed the first financing round following its sale by Vattenfall to the state of Berlin.

"We are thus setting the course for a financially secure heating transition in Berlin at an early stage. We are in a solid financial position to consistently drive forward the transformation of our energy generation and make Berlin's heating supply climate-neutral," says Axel Pinkert, CFO at BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH.

The company plans to completely phase out coal combustion by 2030 and rely on a combination of industrial waste heat, natural gas, power-to-heat, large heat pumps, biomass and heat storage. The complete decarbonization of district heating generation is to be completed by 2045. In addition to hydrogen, geothermal energy will then be increasingly used for district heating.

“We are very pleased to support our new customer BEW in implementing the heating transition in Berlin and to accompany it on its path to decarbonization,” said Dr Velibor Marjanovic, Member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank. “With this financing, we are once again underlining our commitment to supporting transformation projects on the path to a sustainable and climate-friendly society.”

About BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme
With over 140 years of history, BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme GmbH stands for stability, reliability and sustainability. With around 2,200 employees, it supplies 700,000 apartments - more than a third of Berlin's two million apartments - with climate-friendly district heating and hot water, as well as 8,000 other buildings such as schools, libraries and museums. BEW also supplies locally generated heating and cooling and offers individual decentralized energy solutions. The aim is to make a significant contribution to Berlin's climate neutrality. To achieve this, BEW will completely phase out the use of coal by 2030. By 2045, district heating generation is to be climate-neutral.

About KfW IPEX-Bank
Within KfW Group, KfW IPEX-Bank is responsible for project and export finance. It supports German and European companies operating in key industrial sectors in global markets by structuring medium and long-term financing for their exports, funding infrastructure investments, securing supply of raw materials and by financing environmental and climate change mitigation projects worldwide.
It finances technologies of the future to support the transformation of its customers and the transition towards sustainable society in all three dimensions – economic, environment and social.
As specialist bank, KfW IPEX-Bank has extensive industry, structuring and country expertise, it takes on leading roles in financing consortia and actively involves other banks, institutional investors and insurance firms. KfW IPEX-Bank operates as a legally independent group subsidiary and is represented in the most important economic and financial centres across the globe.