IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v11y2018i2p277-d128441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

District Heating Expansion Potential with Low-Temperature and End-Use Heat Savings

Author

Listed:
  • Steffen Nielsen

    (Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Rendsburggade 14, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark)

  • Lars Grundahl

    (Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, A. C. Meyers Vænge 15, DK-2450 København SV, Denmark)

Abstract

District heating has the potential to play a key role in the transition towards a renewable energy system. However, the development towards reduced heat demands threatens the feasibility of district heating. Despite this challenge, opportunity exists in the form of fourth generation district heating, which operates at lower temperatures and enables better renewable integration. This article investigates this challenge by examining the district heating potential within three scenarios: The first is a reference scenario with current heat demand and temperatures, the second includes heat demand savings and the third includes reduced grid temperatures in addition to heat savings. To examine the scenarios, two models are developed. The first is a heat atlas model, in which heat demands are mapped on an address level. The second model assesses district heating expansion potentials based on economic costs. The models are applied using an example case of The Northern Region of Denmark. The article concludes that the district heating potential is highest in the reference scenario. When heat savings are introduced, district heating expansions, in most cases, will not be feasible. Introducing low-temperature district heating modestly increases the feasible expansion potential. This general conclusion is highly dependent on the specific system examined.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Nielsen & Lars Grundahl, 2018. "District Heating Expansion Potential with Low-Temperature and End-Use Heat Savings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:2:p:277-:d:128441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/2/277/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/2/277/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nielsen, Steffen, 2014. "A geographic method for high resolution spatial heat planning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 351-362.
    2. Muñoz, Mauricio & Garat, Pablo & Flores-Aqueveque, Valentina & Vargas, Gabriel & Rebolledo, Sofía & Sepúlveda, Sergio & Daniele, Linda & Morata, Diego & Parada, Miguel Ángel, 2015. "Estimating low-enthalpy geothermal energy potential for district heating in Santiago basin–Chile (33.5 °S)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 186-195.
    3. Xiong, Weiming & Wang, Yu & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Zhang, Xiliang, 2016. "Case study of the constraints and potential contributions regarding wind curtailment in Northeast China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 55-64.
    4. Delia D’Agostino & Paolo Zangheri & Luca Castellazzi, 2017. "Towards Nearly Zero Energy Buildings in Europe: A Focus on Retrofit in Non-Residential Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Li, Yan & Chang, Shanshan & Fu, Lin & Zhang, Shuyan, 2016. "A technology review on recovering waste heat from the condensers of large turbine units in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 287-296.
    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. Grundahl, Lars & Nielsen, Steffen & Lund, Henrik & Möller, Bernd, 2016. "Comparison of district heating expansion potential based on consumer-economy or socio-economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P3), pages 1771-1778.
    8. Duquette, Jean & Wild, Peter & Rowe, Andrew, 2014. "The potential benefits of widespread combined heat and power based district energy networks in the province of Ontario," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 41-51.
    9. Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Andersen, Anders N., 2016. "Booster heat pumps and central heat pumps in district heating," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1374-1388.
    10. Pudjianto, Danny & Djapic, Predrag & Aunedi, Marko & Gan, Chin Kim & Strbac, Goran & Huang, Sikai & Infield, David, 2013. "Smart control for minimizing distribution network reinforcement cost due to electrification," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 76-84.
    11. Faustino Patiño-Cambeiro & Julia Armesto & Faustino Patiño-Barbeito & Guillermo Bastos, 2016. "Perspectives on Near ZEB Renovation Projects for Residential Buildings: The Spanish Case," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    12. Werner, Sven, 2017. "International review of district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 617-631.
    13. Andrei David & Brian Vad Mathiesen & Helge Averfalk & Sven Werner & Henrik Lund, 2017. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Large-Scale Electric Heat Pumps in District Heating Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Xiong, Weiming & Wang, Yu & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Lund, Henrik & Zhang, Xiliang, 2015. "Heat roadmap China: New heat strategy to reduce energy consumption towards 2030," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 274-285.
    15. Hansen, Kenneth & Connolly, David & Lund, Henrik & Drysdale, David & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck, 2016. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Identifying the balance between saving heat and supplying heat," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P3), pages 1663-1671.
    16. Artur Wyrwa & Yi-kuang Chen, 2017. "Mapping Urban Heat Demand with the Use of GIS-Based Tools," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    17. Alberg Østergaard, Poul & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Möller, Bernd & Lund, Henrik, 2010. "A renewable energy scenario for Aalborg Municipality based on low-temperature geothermal heat, wind power and biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4892-4901.
    18. Persson, U. & Möller, B. & Werner, S., 2014. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Identifying strategic heat synergy regions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 663-681.
    19. Mathiesen, B.V. & Lund, H. & Connolly, D. & Wenzel, H. & Østergaard, P.A. & Möller, B. & Nielsen, S. & Ridjan, I. & Karnøe, P. & Sperling, K. & Hvelplund, F.K., 2015. "Smart Energy Systems for coherent 100% renewable energy and transport solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 139-154.
    20. Nielsen, Steffen & Möller, Bernd, 2013. "GIS based analysis of future district heating potential in Denmark," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 458-468.
    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. Malte Schwanebeck & Marcus Krüger & Rainer Duttmann, 2021. "Improving GIS-Based Heat Demand Modelling and Mapping for Residential Buildings with Census Data Sets at Regional and Sub-Regional Scales," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Sorknæs, Peter & Nielsen, Steffen & Lund, Henrik & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Moreno, Diana & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck, 2022. "The benefits of 4th generation district heating and energy efficient datacentres," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    3. Siddique, Muhammad Bilal & Nielsen, Per Sieverts & Rosendal, Mathias Berg & Jensen, Ida Græsted & Keles, Dogan, 2023. "Impacts of earlier natural gas phase-out & heat-saving policies on district heating and the energy system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Francesco Neirotti & Michel Noussan & Stefano Riverso & Giorgio Manganini, 2019. "Analysis of Different Strategies for Lowering the Operation Temperature in Existing District Heating Networks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Víctor M. Soltero & Ricardo Chacartegui & Carlos Ortiz & Gonzalo Quirosa, 2018. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Rural 4th Generation Biomass District Heating," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Moreno, Diana & Nielsen, Steffen & Sorknæs, Peter & Lund, Henrik & Thellufsen, Jakob Zinck & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2024. "Exploring the location and use of baseload district heating supply. What can current heat sources tell us about future opportunities?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(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. Lund, Henrik & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Chang, Miguel & Werner, Sven & Svendsen, Svend & Sorknæs, Peter & Thorsen, Jan Eric & Hvelplund, Frede & Mortensen, Bent Ole Gram & Mathiesen, Brian Vad & Boje, 2018. "The status of 4th generation district heating: Research and results," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 147-159.
    2. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Ashfaq, Asad & Ianakiev, Anton, 2018. "Cost-minimised design of a highly renewable heating network for fossil-free future," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 613-626.
    5. Möller, Bernd & Wiechers, Eva & Persson, Urban & Grundahl, Lars & Connolly, David, 2018. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Identifying local heat demand and supply areas with a European thermal atlas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 281-292.
    6. Persson, Urban & Wiechers, Eva & Möller, Bernd & Werner, Sven, 2019. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Heat distribution costs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 604-622.
    7. Grundahl, Lars & Nielsen, Steffen & Lund, Henrik & Möller, Bernd, 2016. "Comparison of district heating expansion potential based on consumer-economy or socio-economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P3), pages 1771-1778.
    8. Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Andersen, Anders N., 2018. "Economic feasibility of booster heat pumps in heat pump-based district heating systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 921-929.
    9. Möller, Bernd & Wiechers, Eva & Persson, Urban & Grundahl, Lars & Lund, Rasmus Søgaard & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2019. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Towards EU-Wide, local heat supply strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 554-564.
    10. Borna Doračić & Tomislav Novosel & Tomislav Pukšec & Neven Duić, 2018. "Evaluation of Excess Heat Utilization in District Heating Systems by Implementing Levelized Cost of Excess Heat," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-14, March.
    11. Werner, Sven, 2017. "International review of district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 617-631.
    12. 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.
    13. Lund, Henrik & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Connolly, David & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2017. "Smart energy and smart energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 556-565.
    14. Guelpa, Elisa & Bischi, Aldo & Verda, Vittorio & Chertkov, Michael & Lund, Henrik, 2019. "Towards future infrastructures for sustainable multi-energy systems: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 2-21.
    15. Rämä, Miika & Wahlroos, Mikko, 2018. "Introduction of new decentralised renewable heat supply in an existing district heating system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 68-79.
    16. Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Andersen, Anders N., 2021. "Variable taxes promoting district heating heat pump flexibility," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    17. Pavičević, Matija & Novosel, Tomislav & Pukšec, Tomislav & Duić, Neven, 2017. "Hourly optimization and sizing of district heating systems considering building refurbishment – Case study for the city of Zagreb," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1264-1276.
    18. Yuan, Meng & Vad Mathiesen, Brian & Schneider, Noémi & Xia, Jianjun & Zheng, Wen & Sorknæs, Peter & Lund, Henrik & Zhang, Lipeng, 2024. "Renewable energy and waste heat recovery in district heating systems in China: A systematic review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    19. Mathiesen, B.V. & Lund, H. & Connolly, D. & Wenzel, H. & Østergaard, P.A. & Möller, B. & Nielsen, S. & Ridjan, I. & Karnøe, P. & Sperling, K. & Hvelplund, F.K., 2015. "Smart Energy Systems for coherent 100% renewable energy and transport solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 139-154.
    20. Connolly, D. & Lund, H. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2016. "Smart Energy Europe: The technical and economic impact of one potential 100% renewable energy scenario for the European Union," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1634-1653.

    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:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:2:p:277-:d:128441. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.