Analyzing Intersectoral Benefits of District Heating in an Integrated Generation and Transmission Expansion Planning Model

Henrik Schwaeppe, Luis Böttcher, Klemens Schumann, Lukas Hein, Philipp Hälsig, Simon Thams, Paula Baquero Lozano and Albert Moser
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Henrik Schwaeppe: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Luis Böttcher: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Klemens Schumann: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Lukas Hein: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Philipp Hälsig: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT), Schloss Birlinghoven, Konrad-Adenauer-Straße, 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany
Simon Thams: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Paula Baquero Lozano: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany
Albert Moser: Institute of High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics (IAEW), RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 6, 52062 Aachen, Germany

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-31

Abstract: In the field of sector integration, the expansion of district heating (DH) is traditionally discussed with regard to the efficient integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and excess heat. But does DH exclusively benefit from other sectors or does it offer advantages in return? So far, studies have investigated DH only as a closed system or determined intersectoral benefits in a highly aggregated approach. We use and expand an integrated generation and transmission expansion planning model to analyze how the flexibility of DH benefits the energy system and the power transmission grid in particular. First of all, the results confirm former investigations that show DH can be used for efficient RES integration. Total annual system cost can be decreased by expanding DH, due to low investment cost and added flexibility, especially from large-scale heat storage. The high short-term efficiency of heat storage—in combination with electric heating technologies—can be exploited to shift heat demand temporally and, using multiple distributed units, locally to solve electric grid congestion. Although it is unclear whether these results can be replicated in the real world, due to the aggregation and detail of the model, further research in this direction is justified.

Keywords: district heating; generation expansion planning; generation and transmission expansion planning; heat storage; integrated planning; linear programming; sector coupling; sector integration; thermal energy storage (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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