SDH en Archive - Page 5 of 9 - Solar District Heating

Solar district heating on the roof of the world

Solar district heating on the roof of the world

Leandra2018-06-07T10:27:18+02:00Mar 13th, 2018|

A contract to set up a solar district heating network in Langkazi county in Tibet has been awarded to Arcon-Sunmark Large-Scale Solar Systems. The Chinese-Danish joint venture signed an agreement with the local government of the autonomous region of Tibet. The system should provide solar district heating for 82 600 m² of floor area and meet 90 % of the yearly space heating demand in Langkazi, the town sharing its name with the county.

The system, planned to be set up by November, will consist of a 22 000 m² collector field, 15 000 m³ of pit storage and a 3-MW electric boiler. The sponsor of the pilot project is China’s central government. ‘Tibet has double the radiation found at most central European cities and enjoys similar levels of sunshine each month,’ Jiao Qingtai, Vice President of the Sunrain Group, said of the region’s solar potential during a presentation at the Task 55 meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in November 2017. With average temperatures of below zero in northern and around 8 °C in southern Tibet, there is large demand for heating all year round.

Langkazi county, which is surrounded by tall mountains on all four sides, is in the southeastern part of Tibet, an average 4 500 metres above sea level. Up here, the boiling point of water is as little as 85 °C, a great challenge for anyone designing district heating systems. Qingtai said that the town’s advantage was a lack of heating equipment in its building stock. It meant that new space heating units could be adapted to accept a fairly low supply temperature, 70 °C to be exact. Hydraulic adjustment inside the buildings would then lead to a rather low return temperature of 40 °C. The solar system is part of a larger project to develop renewable heating in Tibet. Feasibility studies were conducted in more than 20 of the region’s counties and cities and Tibet’s local government has approved funding for five of them. The county of Langkazi has already completed its tender process, awarding the contract to Arcon-Sunmark Large-Scale Solar Systems. The joint venture is now in charge of the entire Renminbi (RNB) 122 million investment (USD 19.26 million), including the construction of the seasonal storage, collector field and district heating network.

Organisations mentioned in the article:
Sunrain
Arcon-Sunmark

RES with heat storages replace coal in polish DH systems

RES with heat storages replace coal in polish DH systems

Leandra2020-04-03T16:09:43+02:00Feb 28th, 2018|

Elaboration of the new subsidy program for RES to heat, including solar thermal and wind power to heat, is the main conclusion of the conference – ‘District heating systems with renewable energy sources and seasonal heat storages’, held in Warsaw, at the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW), on January 17, 2018.

Nearly 130 people took part in the conference. The event, co-organized by the Institute of Renewable Energy (IEO), initiated the work on new priority projects in this area in Poland. Zbigniew Kamieński – adviser to the President of the NFOŚiGW Management Board was opened and led the conference.Grzegorz Wiśniewski, President of the Board of IEO, in the introductory ‘District heating systems with renewable energy sources and seasonal heat storages’ drew attention to of the role of variable RES (solar thermal and wind) in the district heating systems (DHS) integrated with short and long term thermal storage. Solar assisted DH are already in use in dozen Polish cities and need to be scale up and market push, however the opportunity of usage of 6 GW wind power in Poland for heating and its balancing is not used yet. He emphasized the specifics of the operation of the competitive electricity market and the increasing impact of renewable energy on electricity prices, in particular on the concept of green electric heating – (Green Power-to-Heat) and integration of heating and electricity sectors. The key to introducing renewable energy for heating and integration of district heating with power engineering would be seasonal heat storage. Energy storage in hot water is still the cheapest technology that also allows long-term storage of surplus generation.

The Danish example of investment in DHC renewable energy sources and seasonal heat storages was presented by Per Kristensen from Planenergi, Denmark. Per Kristensen said, the key to effective and rapid transformation of heating is the implementation of solutions improving energy efficiency, which reduce the temperatures of water in the district heating networks.

Modern fourth generation (4G) district heating infrastructure should be based on smart low temperature networks. Seasonal heat storage combined with solar district heating systems coupled with the electricity market was presented by Professor Jan-Olof Dalenbäck from Chalmers University of Technology and CIT Energy Management AB, Sweden. Professor Dalenbäck said, the use of solar heat has many advantages that put them over the use of the biomass. First of all – fixed and long term guaranteed heat cost. The cost of solar heat is independent of the rising prices of energy resources or prices of CO₂ emission.

In addition, in order to obtain the same amount of heat from biomass, it is necessary to use raw material collected from the cultivation area many times (30-50 times) larger than the surface of the solar collectors area in a solar district heating system. SDH systems are functioning and mature technology, which should be taken into account, and its development must be supported by a change of approach in creating the state energy policy, both at the political and investor level.

In the second part of the conference, two panels of experts took place. The first of the discussion panel, titled ‘The use of renewable energy installations and heat storage – new challenges for district heating companies and housing cooperatives’ was led by Zbigniew Kamieński. Panel participants were: Wojciech Ignacok – President of the Board Geotermia Podhalańska S.A., Dariusz Marczewski – President of the Board District Heating Company in Płońsk, Konrad Krzysztof Nowak – President of the Board District Heating Company in Olsztyn, Krzysztof Rodak – President of the Board District Heating Company in Tarnów, Jacek Szymczak – President of the Board Chamber of Commerce Polish District Heating, Tomasz Wilczak – Member of the Board – PGNIG Termika. The panelists, in their statements concerning proposed establishment of the National Fund of a new support program found that this proposal could be a chance for the modernization of the Polish district heating system. The implementation of the project must be adapted to the specifics and needs of potential beneficiaries in Poland.

The second of the discussion panel titled ‘Does Poland is a market for intelligent systems cooperating with the heating-weather-dependent renewable energy sources, seasonal heat storage and electricity market?’ led by Grzegorz Wiśniewski. Panel participants were: Roman Majnusz – President of the Board Ensol, Małgorzata Mika – Bryska – Director in Veolia Energy Poland, Andrzej Rubczyński – Director of District Heating Strategy, Forum Energii, Tadeusz Skoczkowski – Warsaw University of Technology, Witold Rożnowski – Director of the Research and Development Center in Rafako S.A. , Małgorzata Mika-Bryska – Director of Regulation and Public Relations , Veolia Energia Polska, Roman Majnusz – President of the Solar Power Management Board ENSOL, Andrzej Rubczyński – Director of Heat Engineering Strategy, Energy Forum , Profesor Tadeusz Skoczkowski – Head of the Department of Rational Energy Use at the Warsaw University of Technology. The panelists of the second discussion panel stated that without the introduction of renewable energy sources into district heating systems, it will be not possible to obtain by DH companies the status of the ‘effective district heating system’ (according to the EU energy efficiency directive) and to fulfill the RES targets for Poland for 2020 (according to the EU RES directive).

Summing up the conference, Zbigniew Kamieński stated that the proposal of a new subsidy program RES for DH is worth attention and implementation. Kazimierz Kujda, President of NFOŚiGW confirmed that NFOŚiGW is prepared for financing of a series of pilot RES to heat projects for the polish district heating industry. The undertaken work on new subsidy program will be finished in a few months. IEO is collecting and analyzing good examples of policy measures and subsidy programs for promotion of RES and heat storage for DH systems in other counters. The conference was organized and the new subsidy program are preparing with the support of SDHp2m project.

Aneta Wiecka

Presentations of experts from the conference are available on the NFOŚiGW website

Guarantee of SDH yield in Châteaubriant, France

Guarantee of SDH yield in Châteaubriant, France

Leandra2018-06-04T10:27:05+02:00Feb 6th, 2018|

15 December 2017 saw the inauguration of the first installation supported by the subsidy scheme for large-scale solar thermal projects in France. The 2 340 m² collector field by German manufacturer KBB Kollektorbau has since been feeding into a biomass district heating network of Châteaubriant, a town in western France.

The municipality of Châteaubriant was the sole provider of funds for the EUR 1.25 million (530 EUR/m²) endeavour, having received a EUR 875 000 subsidy from ADEME. ADEME’s grant covered 65 % of the project costs and another 5 % were added from the so called AFR fund to boost economy in designated regions in France. The primary objective of the Châteaubriant project has been to reduce the heat price for consumers by 2.5 % after taking into account a carbon tax increase planned by the French government.The French energy agency emphasised that the large subsidy amount would allow each stakeholder to accumulate experience and lower the risks involved. The investor in the project did not choose a turnkey contractor, but asked French engineering companies Girus and Tecsol to supervise the project as independent businesses. Several contractors were chosen to work on different aspects of the project, such as the solar field, the support structure, civil engineering and hydraulics. The solar district heating plant was included as an independent unit in the existing district heating contract hold by French utility Engie Cofely, the operator of the biomass plant. The contract for the solar heat delivery was revised by the Austrian company S.O.L.I.D..

The solar system is planned to deliver 900 MWh/year to the heat network (385 kWh/m²). This equals 5 % of the annual demand and 70 % of the one in summer. An important difference to other projects is that an agreement signed by Eklor, which represents the collector field supplier KBB in France, Cofely, which operates the plant, and Tecsol, which oversaw completion of the project, guarantees the delivery of a certain amount of solar heat. Another innovative approach is the payment of an incentive if heat customers connected to the district heating network reduce their return temperatures.

Organisations mentioned in this article:
ADEME
KBB Kollektorbau
GreenOneTec
Tecsol
Girus Engineering

photo: ADEME

Kyrgyzstan’s capital sees 0.5 MW SDH plant being built

Kyrgyzstan’s capital sees 0.5 MW SDH plant being built

Leandra2020-04-03T16:02:27+02:00Feb 6th, 2018|

In September 2017, the then deputy PM of Kyrgyzstan, Duishenbek Zilaliev, attended the inauguration of a 0.5 MW solar district heating plant in the capital Bishkek. The press release– published by the media and communications department of Bishkek’s city hall – also mentioned the operator of the solar field, the Bishkekteploenergo municipal utility, the largest thermal energy provider in the city.

The media and communications department of Bishkek city hall quoted the deputy prime minister as having said that ‘this innovation should be introduced into other regions, and the government will take every measure to support such a revolutionary step.’ Kyrgyzstan is a small central Asian country with a population of 6 million, neighbouring China, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The national Environmental Protection Fund supported the project financially by offering a grant of Kyrgyzstani Som (KGS) 10.6 million – 72 % of the total investment costs of KGS 14.8 million (around USD 212,000).According to Bishkekteploenergo, the solar plant feeds into the return line of the existing district heating network, which supplies a day care, a school, residential housing units and 4 student buildings. The solar heat system was designed and installed by the municipal utility. Its 364 Chinese-made flat plate collectors have been the only parts imported from abroad.

Bishkek city hall estimates the natural gas cut-down to be around 124,800 m³ a year, which will save KGS 2.2 million annually, based on current tariffs. The State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry issued the grant as special funding, not as part of a regular solar thermal support scheme. Bishkekteploenergo has since announced plans for a second solar district heating installation in Bishkek’s Orto Sai suburb.

Organisations mentioned in this article:
State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry
Report on Bishkek

Australia: Think Big, Think Solar

Australia: Think Big, Think Solar

luis2018-06-04T10:59:16+02:00Dec 20th, 2017|

In Australia, the deployment of large commercial solar thermal plants is picking up speed. This year, Monash University had a solar field of 0.5 MW put into operation and aims to expand it to 1 MW. The solar heat that is fed into the district heating system of the large campus area in Clayton, a suburb of Melbourne, is said to meet the entire heat demand in summer.

The field consists of vacuum tube collectors by Australian manufacturer Greenland Systems (see photo) and was designed and installed by the LCI engineering consultancy from Melbourne.

Photo: Greenland

The district heating system at Monash Campus runs at 150 °C and 12 bars and is supplied by two 8 MW central gas boilers. LCI chose the highly efficient Greenland Orange Series because it can provide hot water at up to 200 °C. In contrast to concentrating systems, the Greenland collector can make use of diffused solar irradiation, meaning it performs well even in Melbourne’s often cloudy weather.

Greenland, which was founded as an industrial electronics supplier, runs an assembling production line for vacuum tube collectors in China and purchases key components from OEM manufacturers. Since the first-ever solar thermal installation in 2004, this segment has grown steadily, dominating the company’s turnover today. According to Pintar, the two drivers of commercial solar heat in Australia are the relatively high energy prices and the small-scale technology certificates (STCs, former RECs), for which larger solar heat plants are eligible as well.

More information:

www.lciconsultants.com.au
www.greenlandsystems.com.au
www.monash.edu

HELIOS – a 2 000 m² Solar Plant for District Heating in Graz

HELIOS – a 2 000 m² Solar Plant for District Heating in Graz

luis2018-06-04T11:00:46+02:00Nov 30th, 2017|

Graz is making constant efforts to increase the share of renewable energy in the city’s district heating system. So the project ‘HELIOS’ in Graz with its 2 000 m² solar plant has been put into operation in September 2017. The thermal energy is fed into the district heating grid of Graz.

‘HELIOS’ has a 2 000 m² solar field which will be expanded to 10 000 m² at its final completion. The expected capacity at the moment is about 2,5 GWh. The plant is situated on a closed residual waste disposal site. For this reason, all solar pipelines are laid aboveground in order to be prepared for underground movements. An unpressurized aboveground storage tank holding 2 500 m³ offers the possibility of absorbing thermal power peaks. A landfill gas CHP unit with a capacity of about 120 kW (electrical) and 170 kW (thermal) is also part of the project. The electrical output is used for self-sufficiency and to run a Power-to-Heat unit. The plant is operated by ‘Energie Graz’. ‘HELIOS’ has received funding from the local state of Styria (approx. 1,17 Mio. €) and from the state of Austria, ‘K.L.I.E.N.’ (approx. 0,45 Mio €).

Good perspectives for SDH in Italy

Good perspectives for SDH in Italy

luis2018-06-04T11:01:27+02:00Nov 30th, 2017|

Three installed systems and one more planned: SDH shows a few examples of operation in Italy but quite good perspectives thanks to relevant incentives and the recent inclusion in the National Energy Strategy for 2030. A workshop in Venice on 15 December 2017 will analyze the status quo and the possible developments.

Plants in operation and plans for the near future

As shown in the map below, three SDH plants are in operation at the moment in Italy. The first SDH plant has been installed in 2015 for feeding in the district heating network of Varese: 990 m² of flat plate solar collectors are used for pre-heating either the make-up water or the return line of the network. Operational results for the first year show a very good performance, with a +13 % over the expected design yield.

The second system, commissioned in 2016, has a much smaller size, with a total gross area of 63 m², and combines solar thermal with a gas-fired CHP unit for a local district heating network located in the mountain village of Sansicario, in the province of Turin. The peculiarities of this plant are the use of two different technologies, flat plate collectors and evacuated tubes, and the opportunity to test solar thermal operation at 1 600 meters above sea level.

The last example is a 200 m² solar plant connected to the district heating network of the city of Lodi in 2017. This is a case of ‘third-party access’ since the whole solar thermal production is injected into the grid and is purchased by the DH utility from the owner of the solar thermal system. Besides these installed systems, the utility Gruppo Iren has planned to install a 600 m² SDH system for its DH network in Turin by 2020.

Incentives and policies: Good perspectives

The national incentive of Conto Termico 2.0 supports energy efficiency measures and small renewable heat systems, including solar thermal plants, also for district heating applications, up to 2 500 m² gross area. The amount of the incentive, paid in five annual instalments, depends on the system size, the application and the expected collector yield. For SDH plants, this amount can range between 40 % and 60 % of the investment cost.

Furthermore, budgetary resources for this scheme are quite generous, corresponding to a yearly amount of 200 million EUR for public bodies and 700 million EUR for private subjects, and a larger portion of these resources are still available.

From a policy point of view, it is worth to mention that, thanks to a consultation comment sent by Ambiente Italia on behalf of the SDHp2m project, the National Energy Strategy, released by the Italian Government in November 2017, explicitly includes solar district heating as a viable option to ‘reduce installation and O&M costs’ and ‘particularly interesting for smart and flexible district heating network, where multiple energy sources are operating together’.

A workshop in Venice

On 15 December 2017, Ambiente Italia organized, in collaboration with the Veneto Region, a specific workshop on the use of solar thermal in combination with other renewables, especially biomass, for supplying thermal energy through small local DH grids.

More information on the event is available here.

New largest solar thermal plant in Upper-Styria, Austria

New largest solar thermal plant in Upper-Styria, Austria

luis2018-06-04T11:02:10+02:00Nov 30th, 2017|

Starting in 2017, SOLID and the public utility of Mürzzuschlag developed a concept for a large-scale solar thermal plant. The new large-scale solar thermal plant on the northern outskirts of Mürzzuschlag will be built over the next 12 months and cover around 10% of the annual heat demand.

The demand for district heating has increased significantly in the Mürzzuschlag area in recent years. A solar system should supplement the already existing biomass plant (50% of the current heat demand). Consequently, the project ‘Solarthermie-Anlage Mayerhoferwiese’ was started. On the 13th of September, the public utility of Mürzzuschlag and SOLID met with the population of Mürzzuschlag in the Stadtsaal to clarify all questions and to present the new project on site. The solar plant will be funded by national Klimafonds and by the region of Styria.

The ‘e5’ municipality of Mürzzuschlag has been using district heating and renewable energies for 35 years. The new solar field is a long-term investment. It is based on the infinite availability of the sun and does not produce any CO2 emissions. Maintenance and operating costs are low, but the highly valuable contribution to a sustainable heat generation is big! The e5 program encourages Austria’s municipalities to modernize their energy and climate protection policies, to save energy and thus to save costs and to use renewable energy sources more intensively. The commitment of each individual municipality is a major contribution to climate protection in Austria, Europe and the world. Municipalities like Mürzzuschlag thus form the foundation for a global energy turnaround.

Funding opportunities for district heating with renewable energies in Thuringia

luis2018-06-11T14:20:39+02:00Nov 27th, 2017|

Projects dealing with district heating and renewable energies can receive funding through several subsidy programs in Thuringia. The funding programs ‘Green Invest’, ‘Solar Invest’ and ‘Klima Invest’ are focused on different aspects and actors.

Within the subsidy program ‘Green Invest’ pilot projects that contribute to a reduction of energy-related CO2-emissions through the implementation of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies with multiplier effect can receive funding. Also studies, as far as they are necessary for the implementation itself or for proving the success of the demonstration project, can receive funding. Beneficiaries may be enterprises.

Investments for implementing new or expanding existing seasonal thermal energy storages can receive funding within the subsidy program ‘Solar Invest’. Beneficiaries may be municipalities and their in-house operations, administration unions, municipal enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, housing cooperatives, energy cooperatives, associations, charitable organizations, foundations and natural persons. There are special conditions for citizen energy cooperatives.

Within the subsidy program ‘Klima Invest’ climate protection concepts dealing with renewable energies and thermal use can receive funding amongst others. Municipalities and municipal associations, administrative districts and administration unions may be beneficiaries.

Target of these measures is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy saving as well as a sustainable energy production and usage in Thuringia.

SHC Task 55 – Large Scale SDHC

SHC Task 55 – Large Scale SDHC

luis2018-06-07T13:52:12+02:00Nov 27th, 2017|

Looking closely at contributing projects and listening to outside market information is vital to the success of SHC Task 55, which deals with the implementation of very large solar thermal systems (including large scale seasonal storages, large scale heat pumps etc.) in DHC networks.

Without the right team in place, any Task and its objectives can be challenged. Because of this, the operating agent of Task 55 has connected its core expert participants, their projects and stakeholders in four dynamic Subtask teams. All actors involved have commitment to their group and share the Task 55 vision of large scale solar thermal district heating and cooling installations globally.

Thrity five experts have participated in the third Task Meeting on 27 and 28 October 2017 in Abu Dhabi, more than 60 % of the participants represent SDH industry. Researchers as well as industry partners have the same target – to enhance the market activities of large scale SDHC up to Gigawatt level.

More information: Task website, Twitter