Urban-DH-extended - Urban district heating extended

District heating in dense urban environments possesses significant CO2-reduction potential in respect to medium and long term considerations, especially in connection with CHP technologies. On the one hand combined power and heat production lowers transformation losses and therefore CO2-emissions are reduced, on the other hand district heating networks provide multiple possibilities for the hydraulic integration of renewable energies, storage technologies or waste heat utilization. Thus fossil fuels are being substituted and the flexibility of the energy system increases. The added value grows. Energy providers face difficulties to economically run highly efficient CHP plants because of externally driven conditions. Especially the operation of natural gas fired CHP plants is highly affected by current natural gas and electricity market price developments. Fluctuating gas prices and security of supply of fossil resources in general are major uncertainties in the mid to long run. From an energy economic point of view there is a need for action in Austria, firstly to reduce import dependency of fossil fuels and secondly to bring the smart integration of energy systems on the way. District heat is going to play a major role within these developments especially in connection with providing flexibility to the future energy system but also in connection with energy efficiency and the integration of renewable technologies in general. The project aims to develop and simulate innovative technical concepts for enlargement of urban district heat supply systems. Three urban district heating areas of different size (Wien, Klagenfurt, Mürzzuschlag) and different energy production portfolios for peak load, medium load and base load, are being examined in respect of system dimensioning, sequence of components like solar thermal, heat pump, waste heat utilization and peak load boiler considering the integration of seasonal storage concepts.