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ScaleUp – Underground thermal energy storage

Storing summer heat for use in the winter

ScaleUp will demonstrate Europe’s first large-scale underground thermal energy storage system in Vienna, enabling renewable heat supply during the coldest season of the year.

ScaleUp project
© Wien Energie Gmbh

With €17.3 million from the Innovation Fund, ScaleUp will construct a 20 MW underground thermal energy storage system in Vienna, storing excess summer heat for use in winter. This 40,000 m³ vertical storage tank enhances district heating flexibility, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting CO₂ emissions by 81,000 tonnes over its first ten years of operation. The project promotes cost-efficient urban heating decarbonisation, making renewable energy more reliable year-round. The Innovation Fund is 100% funded by the EU Emissions Trading System.

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