IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v173y2023ics0301421522005961.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Policy frameworks for district heating: A comprehensive overview and analysis of regulations and support measures across Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Billerbeck, Anna
  • Breitschopf, Barbara
  • Winkler, Jenny
  • Bürger, Veit
  • Köhler, Benjamin
  • Bacquet, Alexandre
  • Popovski, Eftim
  • Fallahnejad, Mostafa
  • Kranzl, Lukas
  • Ragwitz, Mario

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of policy frameworks for district heating (DH) in Europe. We develop a classification for policy aspects addressing DH, comprising regulation of ownership, prices, metering, consumer grid connection, third party access as well as support schemes and carbon taxes. This classification builds on existing literature and expert assessments collected in an online survey and interviews. The relevance of the paper lies in giving a comprehensive picture of the existing policy frameworks for DH in 23 European countries. For the overview, the countries are clustered along assigned categories. It is shown that the policy frameworks for DH can be clustered into five distinguishable groups. While some countries apply very strict regulations in special DH laws, others rely on less regulatory intervention, both with varying degrees of support for DH in place. The different policy frameworks are discussed in the context of the diffusion of DH and the integration of renewable and waste heat in DH. This analysis shows that high shares of DH and high shares of renewable and waste heat in DH can be observed in countries with a high degree of regulation as well as in countries with less regulatory intervention in DH markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Billerbeck, Anna & Breitschopf, Barbara & Winkler, Jenny & Bürger, Veit & Köhler, Benjamin & Bacquet, Alexandre & Popovski, Eftim & Fallahnejad, Mostafa & Kranzl, Lukas & Ragwitz, Mario, 2023. "Policy frameworks for district heating: A comprehensive overview and analysis of regulations and support measures across Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005961
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522005961
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113377?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Winkler, Jenny & Gaio, Alberto & Pfluger, Benjamin & Ragwitz, Mario, 2016. "Impact of renewables on electricity markets – Do support schemes matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 157-167.
    2. Wissner, Matthias, 2014. "Regulation of district-heating systems," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 63-73.
    3. Biggar, Darryl & Söderberg, Magnus, 2020. "Empirical analysis of how political ideology and ownership influence price stability in the Swedish district heating market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    4. Lay, Gunter & Schroeter, Marcus & Biege, Sabine, 2009. "Service-based business concepts: A typology for business-to-business markets," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 442-455, December.
    5. Holzleitner, Marie & Moser, Simon & Puschnigg, Stefan, 2020. "Evaluation of the impact of the new Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001 on third-party access to district heating networks to enforce the feed-in of industrial waste heat," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Lund, Henrik & Werner, Sven & Wiltshire, Robin & Svendsen, Svend & Thorsen, Jan Eric & Hvelplund, Frede & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2014. "4th Generation District Heating (4GDH)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-11.
    7. Söderholm, Patrik & Wårell, Linda, 2011. "Market opening and third party access in district heating networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 742-752, February.
    8. Bürger, Veit & Steinbach, Jan & Kranzl, Lukas & Müller, Andreas, 2019. "Third party access to district heating systems - Challenges for the practical implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 881-892.
    9. Buffa, Simone & Cozzini, Marco & D’Antoni, Matteo & Baratieri, Marco & Fedrizzi, Roberto, 2019. "5th generation district heating and cooling systems: A review of existing cases in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 504-522.
    10. Werner, Sven, 2017. "District heating and cooling in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 419-429.
    11. Werner, Sven, 2017. "International review of district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 617-631.
    12. Kley, Fabian & Lerch, Christian & Dallinger, David, 2011. "New business models for electric cars--A holistic approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3392-3403, June.
    13. Lund, Henrik & Duic, Neven & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2018. "Future district heating systems and technologies: On the role of smart energy systems and 4th generation district heating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PA), pages 614-619.
    14. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V. & Werner, S. & Möller, B. & Persson, U. & Boermans, T. & Trier, D. & Østergaard, P.A. & Nielsen, S., 2014. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Combining district heating with heat savings to decarbonise the EU energy system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 475-489.
    15. Lund, Henrik & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Nielsen, Tore Bach & Werner, Sven & Thorsen, Jan Eric & Gudmundsson, Oddgeir & Arabkoohsar, Ahmad & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2021. "Perspectives on fourth and fifth generation district heating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Sdringola & Mattia Ricci & Maria Alessandra Ancona & Federico Gianaroli & Cristina Capodaglio & Francesco Melino, 2023. "Modelling a Prototype of Bidirectional Substation for District Heating with Thermal Prosumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Billerbeck, Anna & Breitschopf, Barbara & Preuß, Sabine & Winkler, Jenny & Ragwitz, Mario & Keles, Dogan, 2024. "Perception of district heating in Europe: A deep dive into influencing factors and the role of regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abugabbara, Marwan & Javed, Saqib & Johansson, Dennis, 2022. "A simulation model for the design and analysis of district systems with simultaneous heating and cooling demands," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    2. Østergaard, Dorte Skaarup & Smith, Kevin Michael & Tunzi, Michele & Svendsen, Svend, 2022. "Low-temperature operation of heating systems to enable 4th generation district heating: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    3. Manz, Pia & Billerbeck, Anna & Kök, Ali & Fallahnejad, Mostafa & Fleiter, Tobias & Kranzl, Lukas & Braungardt, Sibylle & Eichhammer, Wolfgang, 2024. "Spatial analysis of renewable and excess heat potentials for climate-neutral district heating in Europe," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    4. Wirtz, Marco, 2023. "nPro: A web-based planning tool for designing district energy systems and thermal networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    5. Averfalk, Helge & Werner, Sven, 2020. "Economic benefits of fourth generation district heating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    6. Edtmayer, Hermann & Nageler, Peter & Heimrath, Richard & Mach, Thomas & Hochenauer, Christoph, 2021. "Investigation on sector coupling potentials of a 5th generation district heating and cooling network," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    7. Antoine Reguis & Behrang Vand & John Currie, 2021. "Challenges for the Transition to Low-Temperature Heat in the UK: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-26, November.
    8. Danica Djurić Ilić, 2020. "Classification of Measures for Dealing with District Heating Load Variations—A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Stanislav Chicherin & Vladislav Mašatin & Andres Siirde & Anna Volkova, 2020. "Method for Assessing Heat Loss in A District Heating Network with A Focus on the State of Insulation and Actual Demand for Useful Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-15, September.
    10. Golmohamadi, Hessam & Larsen, Kim Guldstrand & Jensen, Peter Gjøl & Hasrat, Imran Riaz, 2022. "Integration of flexibility potentials of district heating systems into electricity markets: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    11. Mengting Jiang & Camilo Rindt & David M. J. Smeulders, 2022. "Optimal Planning of Future District Heating Systems—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-38, September.
    12. Muhammad Faizan Tahir & Haoyong Chen & Muhammad Sufyan Javed & Irfan Jameel & Asad Khan & Saifullah Adnan, 2019. "Integration of Different Individual Heating Scenarios and Energy Storages into Hybrid Energy System Model of China for 2030," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, May.
    13. Ma, Zheng & Knotzer, Armin & Billanes, Joy Dalmacio & Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard, 2020. "A literature review of energy flexibility in district heating with a survey of the stakeholders’ participation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Salah Vaisi & Saleh Mohammadi & Kyoumars Habibi, 2021. "Heat Mapping, a Method for Enhancing the Sustainability of the Smart District Heat Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, September.
    15. Bachmann, Max & Kriegel, Martin, 2023. "Assessing the heat distribution costs of linear and radial district heating networks: A methodological approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    16. Sommer, Tobias & Sulzer, Matthias & Wetter, Michael & Sotnikov, Artem & Mennel, Stefan & Stettler, Christoph, 2020. "The reservoir network: A new network topology for district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    17. Sommer, Tobias & Sotnikov, Artem & Sulzer, Matthias & Scholz, Volkher & Mischler, Stefan & Rismanchi, Behzad & Gjoka, Kristian & Mennel, Stefan, 2022. "Hydrothermal challenges in low-temperature networks with distributed heat pumps," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    18. Sernhed, Kerstin & Lygnerud, Kristina & Werner, Sven, 2018. "Synthesis of recent Swedish district heating research," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 126-132.
    19. Michele Tunzi & Matthieu Ruysschaert & Svend Svendsen & Kevin Michael Smith, 2020. "Double Loop Network for Combined Heating and Cooling in Low Heat Density Areas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-24, November.
    20. Gjoka, Kristian & Rismanchi, Behzad & Crawford, Robert H., 2023. "Fifth-generation district heating and cooling systems: A review of recent advancements and implementation barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:173:y:2023:i:c:s0301421522005961. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.