The city of Grevesmühlen, located in the western part of the German federal state of M-V and in the metropolitan region of Hamburg, has four designated commercial and industrial areas. One of them is the industrial and commercial area “Nord West”, which has a total size of approx. 21 ha. Grevesmühlen is located in the immediate vicinity of the motorway and has a direct connection to the Baltic Sea ports of Wismar and Lübeck. The city has 13 districts and approx. 10,000 inhabitants.

The industrial park “Nord West” is fully developed. An extension up to 40 ha is possible. The occupancy rate of the industrial and commercial site is approx. 85 % of the total area. The local public utilities (Stadtwerke Grevesmühlen), the Grevesmühlen waste water association (Abwasserzweckverband Grevesmühlen), the Happy Texx textile printing works and Norddeutsche Wasser-Logistik GmbH have all settled here.

The municipality is a pioneer in the federal state and has comprehensive experience in the field of renewable energies. The city of Grevesmühlen and the cooperation of local actors are characterised by sustainable and ecological actions. In 2003 the network “Stadt ohne Watt” was founded, an association to promote sustainable municipal and regional development. Within the framework of this network, innovative projects for energy transition are increasingly being implemented. The local public utility company is also an active partner in the development and implementation of renewable energy projects.
Currently, the local municipal utilities operate one wind energy plant, two biogas plants and nine photovoltaic plants.

In the industrial and commercial area, the waste water association runs a wastewater treatment plant equipped with a sewage sludge digestion. The sewage gas produced is used to generate renewable electricity and heat via CHP plants. A gas storage tank and a heat storage system are used to store the generated sewage gas and the generated heat. In addition, waste heat is recovered from the wastewater stream and used to heat the buildings. The wastewater treatment plant is the first energy-plus wastewater treatment plant in Germany, i.e. the plant produces more energy than it consumes. In addition, a
shrimp farm is in operation at the site, whose wastewater is treated directly in the wastewater treatment plant. At the same time, the wastewater treatment plant supplies the shrimp farm with the high quantities of heat required for shrimp production via a local heating network. This is a very good example of entrepreneurial cooperation in the field of energy and material flow management (industrial symbiosis).

In addition, two solar parks are operating in the industrial and commercial area “North West”, one of them as a citizen solar park. In addition, a large number of the roof areas at the site are equipped with PV roof systems. There are no areas suitable for wind power in the immediate vicinity of the industrial site, so there is also no potential for the direct supply of wind power and the use of surplus power via power to x technologies. The wastewater treatment plant was expanded during the pilot project so that additional heat can be used. By expanding the local heating network, other companies could be supplied with renewable heat. This is a decisive location factor for the settlement of further companies. In the sector of alternative mobility, the installation of e-charging stations is being planned.