The Municipal Colonies of San Francisco Javier and Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, located in Vallecas, were demolished in 1997 due to their deterioration. Over 2,000 public housing units were built with centralized heating and hot water systems, as well as a waste collection system. The urbanization was completed in 2009, but the economic crisis interrupted the construction of the buildings connected to the heating system. In 2016, construction was restarted and the implementation of the system was awarded to a construction company. Tests were conducted in completed developments, and it is expected that the heating and hot water supply will be operational in five developments by early 2021. Currently, work is underway to prepare the specifications for the operation and maintenance of the facilities.

The San Francisco Javier and Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles Municipal Colonies (hereinafter referred to as "the Colonies"), located in the Vallecas district, were built between 1956 and 1958. In 1997, the deteriorating condition of the buildings led to their demolition, and the entire Colonies area was replaced with a new urban plan through a Special Plan.

Simultaneously, a process of relocating the residents of the Colonies took place. The objective was to construct over 2,000 public housing units distributed in 20 buildings, equipped with a centralized heating and hot water system, known as District Heating (DH), and a pneumatic waste collection system, with collection bins installed in the buildings (central waste collection). At that time, this was a pioneering system for the production of hot water in residential complexes, relying on high-efficiency boilers and hydrogen fuel cells.

Subsequently, in 2009, the urbanization works began, including the construction of roads with general urban facilities (electricity, water, gas, telephone, and street lighting) and special facilities (distribution networks for hot water and waste collection from the central facilities to the future building plots). Likewise, the construction of the central facilities started, including the corresponding chimneys for the exhaust of gases produced by the combustion of the boilers. The idea was to have a community area with children's playgrounds and spaces for adults underneath the chimneys.

Eventually, the entire Colonies area was urbanized, and the central facilities were constructed. In the generation plant, only two (2) condensing boilers were installed (out of the initially planned six (6)), as well as two (2) hydrogen fuel cells (out of the initially planned six (6)), along with the rest of the associated installations. However, the economic crisis forced the construction of the buildings that would be served by the DH to be halted, preventing the central system from being operational.

In 2016, construction activities resumed by the Municipal Housing and Land Company of Madrid (EMVS), and the new buildings of the Colonies began to be constructed. All of them are intended to receive heating and hot water supply through the DH.

The implementation of the DH start-up project was awarded to the construction company UTE Ferrovial Servicios - Siemsa Industria on July 19, 2018. Initial tests and checks carried out to analyze the condition and suitability of the existing distribution network resulted in the need to undertake a new Heat Network. Consequently, a new calculation and design of the network were carried out, based on the new energy demands requested by the project directors of the Developments associated with the heat plant and in compliance with the new regulations (Technical Building Code).

The control of the entire system, including the DH equipment and the interior installations of the Developments, will be carried out centrally from the Central building. For this purpose, the control system and connection to the Heat Network of all Developments have been unified.

As of today, the New Heat Network is constructed, and operational tests are being conducted in completed developments. It is expected that by early 2021, the DH will provide heating and hot water supply to five Colonies developments.

Work is underway to prepare the specifications that will encompass the Operation and Maintenance of both the DH system and the Developments.