The Saar district heating grid was conceived in the wake of the energy crisis in 1973 in order to secure the local energy supply through regional structures. The vision was to save - increasingly expensive - primary energy and replenish resources by utilising the cogeneration of heat and power and industrial waste heat. This vision came true. Today, the Saar district heating network extends over a total distance of 35 kilometres from Dillingen to Saarbrücken, making it one of the longest regional district heating networks in Germany. Some 13,000 customers are supplied with environmentally friendly district heating. The biggest consumers are the Ford plant in Saarlouis and the attached supplier park, and the Saarbrücken public utility company.