Potential Diffusion of Renewables-Based DH Assessment through Clustering and Mapping: A Case Study in Milano

Giulia Spirito, Alice Dénarié, Fabrizio Fattori, Mario Motta, Samuel Macchi and Urban Persson
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Giulia Spirito: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Alice Dénarié: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Fabrizio Fattori: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Mario Motta: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Samuel Macchi: Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milano, Italy
Urban Persson: School of Business, Innovation and Sustainability, Halmstad University, P.O. Box 823, S-301 18 Halmstad, Sweden

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-30

Abstract: This work aims at developing a methodology for the assessment of district heating (DH) potential through the mapping of energy demand and waste heat sources. The presented method is then applied to the Metropolitan City of Milano as a case study in order to investigate the current and, especially, the future sustainability of DH with the foreseen building refurbishment and consequent heat demand reduction. The first step is the identification of the areas the most interesting from a heat density and an economic point of view through a clustering algorithm, in which lies the main novelty of the work. The potential is then assessed by investigating their synergy with the available heat sources, which are mapped and analyzed in terms of recoverable thermal energy and costs. In future scenarios with foreseen heat demand reduction, low-temperature networks and excess heat sources are considered, such as metro stations and datacenters, together with the conventional sources, such as thermoelectric plants. The outcomes prove that lower heat demand corresponds to higher network costs with consequently reduced district heating potential but also prove that the properties of low-temperature district heating can potentially compensate for the drop in its cost-effectiveness. Another interesting finding is that the renovation of buildings in an area should be not performed evenly but with criteria; for instance, in synergy with DH diffusion.

Keywords: district heating; district heating potential; clustering; low-temperature district heating; distribution costs (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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