Webinar: SmartReFlex – Renewable district heating and local heat planning

This webinar, containing three presentations, explores the topic of local heat planning for renewable district heating solutions, with experiences from the Central Denmark Region (CDR), Milan and London.

All question on the three presentations are gathered in a Q&A section in the end of the webinar. Shortcuts to each presentation are included.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ChsRgSlBA&t=483s 

1. Strategic energy planning in Central Denmark Region

Louise Langbak Hansen, Development officer, Regional Development, Central Denmark Region (CDR)

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In Denmark, the regions have no formal authority, in contrast to the state and the municipalities. Then, how can the region be an actor regarding energy, without any formal authority? This is discussed in the presentation, which also describes the strategic energy planning in the CDR with the goal to use 50% renewable energy in 2025 and 100% renewable energy in 2050. Seven focus areas constitute this overall goal, of which one is the central heating supply of the future. An example of resources is a new computer centre in Viborg, which may provide surplus heat like other industrial surplus heat in the CDR region.

2. Mapping heat demand and supply: Examples from Italy

Alice Dénarié, Italian district heating association (Associazione Italiana Riscaldamento Urbano - AIRU/Politecnico di Milano)

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The potential of renewable energy for heating and cooling is still largely unexploited in the EU. In Italy, only 19% of the energy for heating and cooling was from renewable sources (data from 2015).

The talk summarises some work done in two projects, RES H/C Spread and SmartReFlex , matching maps of sources with demand. Examples are provided from the small municipality of Mirandola, and the large city of Milano.

3. Secondary Heat – London’s Zero Carbon Energy Resource

Simon Wyke, Greater London Authority

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Secondary heat is waste heat from industries or other activities, and environmental heat that naturally occurs in the environment. In order to be used, this heat normally requires heat pumps. Among other advantages, it reduces primary energy demand and CO2 emissions. In a published report, it is concluded that 56 TWh/year of secondary heat available for London can be considered CO2 effective. This corresponded to 82% of London’s heat demand in 2010.

4. Questions from the audience

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• Please give an overview of the shares of renewables used in district heating in the Central Denmark Region [on the presentation of Denmark].
• Considering incorporating intermittent power generation such as wind and solar, are there any thoughts of flexible power production combined with heat storage, as is already happening in Denmark [on the presentation of Italy]?
• The investments in secondary heat production, do they make economic sense? What is the bottom line, and what are the parameters influencing the economic viability of these investments [on the presentation of London]?
• Can you describe in some detail the coordinating role of the region concerning the individual municipal heating plans for community municipalities? For instance, do you check if the plans are in line with the national energy targets? [Denmark]
• Regarding your technical potential calculation for waste heat in the city of Milano, which methodology did you use for this calculation? [Italy]
• Flow temperature that you are aiming at. Isn’t the temperature of 55 degrees too low in order to provide domestic hot water (DHW)? [London]
• Do you have any idea of the current average fossil fuel heating costs for London, and for renewable heating, maybe as a range? [London]
• What are the main benefits for the municipalities, and for the other actors, which convinces them to invest in the infrastructure needed for, for instance, heat recovery? [Denmark]
• Have you ever considered the use of sewage as a potential heat source, or do you have any experience with that? [general question]
• In Denmark, there is an obligation to do heat planning. Do you know if this is also the case in Italy or any other EU country? [Italy/London]
• Are the low-entropy sources enough for the constantly increasing cooling demand in cities? [London]

External links:

Central Denmark Region (CDR), Associazione Italiana Riscaldamento Urbano, Politecnico di Milano, RES H/C Spread, SmartReFlex, London’s Zero Carbon Energy Resource, Greater London Authority