Valais start-up drives district heating planning forward in Europe
The Valais-based start-up Urbio has successfully launched its software for planning urban district heating networks on the European market. The reason for the expansion is the potential of district heating, which could cover up to 50 per cent of total heating requirements in the future. Currently, the share is only 10 per cent.
The software solutions developed by Valais-based start-up Urbio, which supports energy suppliers in their transition to clean energy and facilitates the creation of energy plans and district heating networks, will soon be available throughout Europe. The start-up has previously supported more than 200 projects in Switzerland, Germany, France and Belgium.
The reason for the European expansion is the considerable potential for district heating, according to a press release. District heating could cover 50 per cent of Europe’s total heating needs from renewable sources, compared with just 10 per cent at present, and even less in some large economies. Sébastien Cajot, CEO of Urbio, identifies the obstacles: “We repeatedly encounter the same weaknesses in the initial planning phases: there is a high degree of uncertainty, reliable data is scarce and financing is difficult. As a result, fossil fuels remain the standard solution for most property owners.” This is where Urbio comes in, explains the CEO: “Collecting data, analysing it and dimensioning energy infrastructures: Urbio digitises this process in a single application. Thanks to generative design, our algorithms offer the most suitable solutions according to predefined energy requirements. The solution currently includes energy planning for specific areas, feasibility studies for district heating and direct integration with third-party tools such as websites or CRMs.”
Industry players can now create their account on urb.io and learn about examples of projects that have already been completed. The first project application of the software solution is free of charge.