Callens facilitates heat for the Ghent ‘Nieuwe Dokken’ project

North of Ghent, residential project De Nieuwe Dokken is gracing the skyline. What once was the city’s industrial hub is now being turned into a sustainable residential area along the waterfront. One of the project’s main sustainable facilities is the heat grid Callens was involved in. The heating technology specialist installed heat exchangers in the production halls of nearby company, and regular client, Christeyns. There they capture the residual heat that is released during the production process before feeding it into the heat grid, at a stable temperature.

Incidentally, Christeyns is no stranger to Callens. The company, which manufactures all kinds of hygiene products, has been relying on the heat specialist’s heating systems to supply its production processes with the right heat, inter alia via steam, for years.

The really clever touch? The heat grid uses an open architecture! So, depending on supply and demand in the immediate vicinity, other production plants too can connect to the grid and input their residual heat.

Ghent is the first city to launch a comprehensive project such as this. DuCoop doesn’t only lead the development of the heat grid but has also taken the advanced waste water treatment and electrical solar power systems for its account. Everything is managed via a cloud platform with intelligent algorithms to fine-tune supply to demand. These technological tours de force already brought quite a few curious European neighbours to Ghent, all looking for inspiration for their own sustainable future.