ETH Zurich sells district heating to the City of Zurich

From the 1940s onwards, research in large-scale heating systems, namely steam turbines, large boilers and heat exchangers, increased in importance at ETH Zurich. The resulting waste heat was used initially to heat university buildings and later also neighbouring properties around the ML/FHK building. Over the years, a district heating network developed around the Zentrum campus.

Today, ETH no longer uses the facilities for research or teaching. However, the system continues to supply district heating to 29 properties used by ETH as well as 142 private and municipal buildings. Steam from the City of Zurich’s Hagenholz waste incineration plant is primarily used for this purpose. The steam is detensioned into hot water in the district heating power station in the ML building and fed to the respective customers via the distribution network.

The operation and maintenance of district heating is not part of ETH’s core tasks and of no interest to ETH from a business perspective, although the network is largely in good condition and the power station was recently renovated. Moreover, there is no legal basis for the further expansion of the network and the addition of new customers.

Transfer to take place on 1 January 2025

ETH has been in sales negotiations with the City of Zurich’s Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich (ERZ) for some time. These negotiations have now been successfully concluded: The City Council is asking the City Parliament to take over ETH Zurich's district heating infrastructure and supply contracts for around 8.5 million Swiss francs (excluding VAT). If the City Parliament approves the transaction, the transfer will take place on 1 January 2025.

For the City of Zurich, energy policy considerations are at the forefront of the purchase. The City intends to continue to provide grid-based district heating in the Zentrum area. To ensure this in the long term, the City is willing to take over the ETH network in its entirety and continue to operate it.

For ETH Zurich, focussing on its core tasks is the key motivation for the sale. The transaction enables the university to draw a line under a situation that has developed over time. Although the infrastructure will be fairly remunerated, the bottom line for ETH will be an extraordinary depreciation of around 5.7 million Swiss francs. At the same time, however, the risks and obligations relating to operation and maintenance will be eliminated. After the sale, ETH will continue to use district heating as a customer.

ETH also supplies (waste) heat to external properties around the Hönggerberg campus. However, the number of district heating customers has been significantly reduced in recent years and further steps are scheduled. The district heating supply at the Hönggerberg site is not included in the present transaction.