Helen, a Helsinki-based energy company, has unveiled plans for a large-scale district heating plant complex. Germany's MAN Energy Solutions is supplying a 33 MW air-to-water heat pump, the largest ever used for a district-heating plant, with ambient air and renewable electricity for heat generation.
Okay, district heating with a heat pump makes more sense to me if there are processes that require cooling and can act as the source, like lowering the temperature of treated wastewater before adding it back to a waterway. However, the heat supply for the water treatment plant should still probably come from cogeneration. District cooling with a central heat pump system also makes sense, especially if it eliminates noisy condensers on the sides of buildings.