Exploring the location and use of baseload district heating supply. What can current heat sources tell us about future opportunities?

Diana Moreno, Steffen Nielsen, Peter Sorknæs, Henrik Lund, Jakob Zinck Thellufsen and Brian Vad Mathiesen

Energy, 2024, vol. 288, issue C

Abstract: The decentralization of energy production and recovery of excess heat (EH) to reach climate targets is essential for renewable and fully decarbonized heating systems. This paper identifies current and potential industrial EH sources providing baseload capacity for district heating (DH) systems. These sources are evaluated by sector and process for supplying baseload capacities explored for current 3rd generation district heating (3GDH) and 4th generation district heating (4GDH) systems with lower grid temperatures and losses, with and without expansions. The method combines geographical analysis and available baseload capacity estimations for 360 Danish DH systems scenario-making and an additional sensitivity analysis evaluating baseload capacity full-load hours. It is found that 80 % of Danish DH systems have an unmet baseload capacity of 50 % or higher. Half of the systems have geothermal capacity available and up to 20 % of industrial EH baseload capacity potential, which sums up to 5 PJ of EH potential within a 2 km distance. The findings also suggest that there is an additional opportunity for the placement of future energy infrastructure able to supply EH, which is highly contextual and strategic in heat planning, particularly considering the future development of sustainable and energy-efficient DH systems.

Keywords: GIS; Heat demand; District heating; Low-temperature district heating; Decarbonization; Energy transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544223030360
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:288:y:2024:i:c:s0360544223030360

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.129642

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().