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Cost and primary energy efficiency of small-scale district heating systems

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  • Truong, Nguyen Le
  • Gustavsson, Leif

Abstract

Efficient district heat production systems (DHSs) can contribute to achieving environmental targets and energy security for countries that have demands for space and water heating. The optimal options for a DHS vary with the environmental and social-political contexts and the scale of district heat production, which further depends on the size of the community served and the local climatic conditions. In this study, we design a small-scale, minimum-cost DHS that produces approximately 100GWhheat per year and estimate the yearly production cost and primary energy use of this system. We consider conventional technologies, such as heat-only boilers, electric heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP) units, as well as emerging technologies, such as biomass-based organic Rankine cycle (BORC) and solar water heating (SWH). We explore how different environmental and social-political situations influence the design of a minimum-cost DHS and consider both proven and potential technologies for small-scale applications. Our calculations are based on the real heat load duration curve for a town in southern Sweden. We find that the district heat production cost increases and that the potential for cogeneration decreases with smaller district heat production systems. Although the selection of technologies for a minimum-cost DHS depends on environmental and social-political contexts, fewer technical options are suitable for small-scale systems. Emerging technologies such as CHP-BORC and SWH improve the efficiency of primary energy use for heat production, but these technologies are more costly than conventional heat-only boilers. However, systems with combined technologies are less sensitive to fluctuations in fuel prices, specifically the SWH system, compared to technologies based on conventional fuels. Furthermore, increased market penetration of SWH will reduce the investment costs of such systems and, along with expected fuel price increases, SWH may be cost-efficient in DHSs.

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  • Truong, Nguyen Le & Gustavsson, Leif, 2014. "Cost and primary energy efficiency of small-scale district heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 419-427.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:130:y:2014:i:c:p:419-427
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.05.031
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    5. Truong, Nguyen Le & Gustavsson, Leif, 2014. "Minimum-cost district heat production systems of different sizes under different environmental and social cost scenarios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 881-893.
    6. Welsch, Bastian & Göllner-Völker, Laura & Schulte, Daniel O. & Bär, Kristian & Sass, Ingo & Schebek, Liselotte, 2018. "Environmental and economic assessment of borehole thermal energy storage in district heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 73-90.
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    11. Rämä, M. & Mohammadi, S., 2017. "Comparison of distributed and centralised integration of solar heat in a district heating system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 649-660.
    12. Shamshirband, Shahaboddin & Petković, Dalibor & Enayatifar, Rasul & Hanan Abdullah, Abdul & Marković, Dušan & Lee, Malrey & Ahmad, Rodina, 2015. "Heat load prediction in district heating systems with adaptive neuro-fuzzy method," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 760-767.
    13. Piccardo, C. & Dodoo, A. & Gustavsson, L. & Tettey, U.Y.A., 2020. "Retrofitting with different building materials: Life-cycle primary energy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    14. Lauma Balode & Kristiāna Dolge & Dagnija Blumberga, 2021. "The Contradictions between District and Individual Heating towards Green Deal Targets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-26, March.
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    16. Xu, Xin & You, Shijun & Zheng, Xuejing & Li, Han, 2014. "A survey of district heating systems in the heating regions of northern China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 909-925.

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