Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) for District Heating and Cooling: A Novel Modeling Approach Applied in a Case Study of a Finnish Urban District

Oleg Todorov, Kari Alanne, Markku Virtanen and Risto Kosonen
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Oleg Todorov: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Kari Alanne: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Markku Virtanen: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Risto Kosonen: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) combined with ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) offer an attractive technology to match supply and demand by efficiently recycling heating and cooling loads. This study analyses the integration of the ATES–GSHP system in both district heating and cooling networks of an urban district in southwestern Finland, in terms of technoeconomic feasibility, efficiency, and impact on the aquifer area. A novel mathematical modeling for GSHP operation and energy system management is proposed and demonstrated, using hourly data for heating and cooling demand. Hydrogeological and geographic data from different Finnish data sources is retrieved in order to calibrate and validate a groundwater model. Two different scenarios for ATES operation are investigated, limited by the maximum pumping flow rate of the groundwater area. The additional precooling exchanger in the second scenario resulted in an important advantage, since it increased the heating and cooling demand covered by ATES by 13% and 15%, respectively, and decreased the energy production cost by 5.2%. It is concluded that dispatching heating and cooling loads in a single operation, with annually balanced ATES management in terms of energy and pumping flows resulted in a low long-term environmental impact and is economically feasible (energy production cost below 30 €/MWh).

Keywords: aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES); ground-source heat pump (GSHP); district heating and cooling; ATES integration; mathematical and groundwater modeling; MODFLOW (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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