Revolutionizing district heating

Optimizing the supply security for district heating operators

As district heating operators in Europe are transitioning to renewable energy sources, they are facing the challenge of integrating volatile renewable generation technologies into their existing supply structures. This requires reliable and affordable tools to plan and operate district heating systems with multivalent, volatile, and renewable energy technologies.

The Austrian consortium – consisting of SOLID, PINK, AEE INTEC and BEST – has recognized the market need for an energy management tool. Thus, the project is developing a solution to provide small to medium sized district heating operators with a control method which operates multivalent, volatile, and renewable energy in a simple and secure manner.

The project aims to develop a tool to optimize the operation of future district heating systems in a predictive and dynamic way. A thermo-hydraulic simulation will evaluate different operating strategies during planning and continuously during operation, providing district heating operators with transparent decision support for the selected operating strategy.

The developed control method will be implemented in two demo plants, and the thermo-hydraulic simulation will be used for the design of several demonstration plants. Further, the development of an ESCo business model will enable the long-term operation of this solution, with an expected reduction of 2-6% of the heat production costs.