SDH in Sweden: latest news from the Västra Götaland region

2018-05-17T16:42:59+02:00Nov 27th, 2017|

An initiative aiming at the realization of at least one new solar district heating plant in the Swedish region of Västra Götaland in 2017-2018 is ongoing within the European project SDHp2m – policy to market. Here are the latest developments.

The work to find demonstration sites where existing wood fueled district heating plants can be complemented with solar heat is ongoing in Sweden. The first step, a survey to the 49 municipalities in order to identify potential solid wood fuel plants to be complemented with solar heat was accomplished. In a second phase, the most feasible plants should be pre-designed in order to prepare a call for tenders.

There are now two feasibility studies for Borensberg and Vara on the way, and one planned for Hemse (on Gotland). Preliminary results show solar heat costs of the order of 50 Euro/MWh and one of the main focus points is to find a feasible placing of the collector arrays requiring 1 to 3 hectares land area.

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Switzerland: plans for solar district heating pilot system

2018-01-09T14:33:43+01:00Oct 18th, 2017|

‘Why is there no solar district heating in Switzerland?’ Swiss scientists were asking after their visit to Denmark. Now, the Swiss-based SPF – Institute of Solar Technology has begun to work with a district heating company on giving the country its first pilot plant.

SPF had been investigating the feasibility of solar heat in district heating networks in the St Gallen canton and published a 50-page study this March. As it turns out, solar heat could be produced in several networks for 60 to 160 CHF/MWh (50 to 140 EUR/MWh). Assuming plant owners or operators could get an incentive similar to the one for small-scale solar heat systems, it would make several larger ones economically viable.

The current SPF project started with an analysis of 43 heat networks in St Gallen in east Switzerland. Data provided by Energy Agency St Gallen was used to identify the most promising ones among them. ‘Many district heating networks get their heat from waste incineration. You can normally rule those out right away, as the cost is about 20 EUR/MWh, incineration will continue throughout summer because of no space for saisonal waste storage, and the temperature in the network is around 120 °C,’ said SPF’s Igor Mojic, one of the study’s three authors. Another typical energy source besides waste is wood, for which average cost ranges between 40 and 60 CHF/MWh (35 to 70 EUR/MWh).The researchers also used the available data to estimate heat demand in summer as precisely as possible.

Grafic: levelized cost of heat for fove selected district heating networks, as per offers by collector manufacturers. Calculations assume a 25-year economic life and a 3% loan interest rate. Source:SPF

A total of 34 networks made it to the second stage, during which SPF tried to get first-hand information by sending out questionnaires and conducting interviews over the phone. It employed Polysun 9.0 to run model simulations of 17 heat networks. The right plant size was determined by assuming a system met all the demand in summer, which led to solar fractions of 10 to 32 %, depending on the consumer base. The subsequent third stage was used to perform calculations based on real-life data for five district heating networks, namely Thal, Gommiswald, Wattwil, Altstätten and Waldkirch (see the chart below). The underlying assumption was that solar collectors were roof-mounted, as ‘setting up PV systems on the ground is unthinkable in Switzerland. We were naturally assuming roof space to be used for installing the solar thermal system,’ said Mojic.

Of course, roof installations are more expensive than ground-mounted ones. Offers from six domestic and foreign manufacturers of flat plate and vacuum tube collectors showed a price range of between 70 and 140 CHF/MWh (60 to 120 EUR/MWh) for each plant. The main cost factors were the time and effort expected to be spent on installing the unit and integrating and linking it with and to central heating. If large solar thermal plants were to benefit from the same subsidy amounts as smaller versions, the cost of heat would come down to 30 to 100 CHF/MWh (30 to 90 EUR/MWh).

The figures from the feasibility study seem encouraging, but have their limitations. ‘So far, calculations have been based on real-life data, but there has been no assessment on site,’ said Mojic. The prices from collector manufacturers were only indicative – in reality, businesses might set them higher. ‘There are yet other unknowns, such as the structural limitations of the roof,’ he added.

The next step will be to find some district heating companies interested in integrating solar into their network. One operator has already partnered with SPF to take a closer look at the requirements, such as roof space availability. ‘We’re looking for other companies from across Switzerland,’ said Mojic.

SPF also calculated the cost of ground-mounting, which was 20 to 40 % cheaper. ‘So far, no one knows if and how Swiss authorities were to approve a system equipped with ground-mounted collectors and whether they would be willing to grant any subsidies. Our objective is to design an actual roof installation and apply for incentives and approval to establish a standard procedure,’ explained Mojic.

Eva Augsten

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Solar District Heating: how to tackle land use issues

2020-04-01T17:05:34+02:00Oct 17th, 2017|

Usually, solar district heating (SDH) plants require large fields for collector installations, which has raised concerns at local level because of competing land uses and a system’s potential visual impact on the surroundings. One way out of this dilemma is to combine heat generation and fruit and vegetable harvest.
As part of SDHp2m…From Policy to Market, a Horizon 2020 project, some regions are looking to create regulations based on best practice examples of land use or spatial heat planning. This article will present showcases from the Styria region in Austria, Hamburg in Germany and Valle d’Aosta in Italy.In the metropolitan region of Hamburg, several SDH projects have failed because of a lack of suitable areas or because they lost out against residential buildings, roads, nature habitats or industrial, agricultural or commercial facilities. The Hamburg Institut Research (HIR) is now developing best practice guidance and policy recommendations to tackle this barrier. It established five main categories:

• large roof spaces
• polluted or contaminated areas
• zones along traffic routes
• agricultural plots
• double use for both SDH systems and nature conservation

In the second category, Hamburg shows large application potential in areas storing sewage from the Elbe river. For example, the fields covered in sludge at the port of Hamburg-Altenwerder could provide enough space for about 40 000 m² of solar collectors, with some challenges remaining, such as the lack of a nearby district heating network and a legal permit for SDH systems on these hills. Potential site for SDH plant on sludge fields at Hamburg-Altenwerder port in Germany

In the Austrian region of Styria, almost all DH networks which require significant hot water amounts in summer are in urban areas, where land is quite expensive. Additionally, the owner of the property expects its value to rise, which usually leads to higher rental costs and sale prices and threatens the economic viability of SDH plants. Together with Austrian-based research institute AEE INTEC and system supplier S.O.L.I.D., the regional government has been trying to rectify the situation by devising new policies which would allow the installation of SDH systems in agricultural priority areas and green zones. The first step has been to establish a broader consensus about the future need for energy supply mainly from local renewable sources, essentially by evaluating energy demand in spatial planning. There will be one pilot study each about three municipalities to analyse the situation.

The case of Italy is a rather peculiar one, as the main competitor for land use is photovoltaics. The widespread and mostly unchecked deployment of large ground-mounted PV plants because of generous feed-in tariffs has prompted a quick and harsh response by many regional administrations, leading to stringent rules on new ground-mounted solar systems. Even though these requirements make no explicit mention of solar thermal collectors, the technology falls within their scope automatically.

To counter this unfortunate development, Ambiente Italia has been cooperating with the Valle d’Aosta region in northwest Italy and other local stakeholders, such as district heating utilities, to find a solution based on a multi-level approach:

  •   ‘We are different from PV’: SDH plants usually require a smaller piece of land and are placed in industrial and residential, not in heritage areas.
  •  ‘We are different from Denmark’: Danish SDH systems typically have large fields of collectors thanks to a low population density and very inexpensive plots; In Italy, the average SDH plant size ranges from 1 000 to 2 500 m².
  • ‘We need a showcase’: An SDH system in operation would show all stakeholders that there is zero impact on the

Riccardo Battisti
See also our factsheets on regional activities within SDHp2m

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Three pilot case studies in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

2018-05-03T11:12:31+02:00Jul 19th, 2017|

Three pilot case studies in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
The solar thermal industry needs a second wind in France. This is the challenge of the European project SDHp2m, of which the Regional council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, RAEE (regional energy and environment agency in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) and CEA INES (research institute, department of the French national institute for solar energy) are partners. The aim of the project is to develop the integration of solar thermal energy in district heating systems. In the region, the potential is very significant: indeed, from 400 000 m² to 1 600 000 m² of solar thermal collectors could be integrated into district heating systems.
Last February, a call for proposal was launched. The idea was to find three suitable pilot sites that would allow the study of several possible configurations of solar thermal integration, being the most representative in the region. Twelve applications were received and three laureates selected:

The district heating system of Clermont Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme), La Gauthière area

The operating company Clervia, subsidiary of Dalkia, operates this 5 km district heating system. It provides 38 140 MWh of heat per year of which 65,5 % comes from biomass and 34,5 % from natural gas with a part of cogeneration. This heating network is part of a blueprint process initiated to study development paths such as increasing the share of renewable energy, extension or interconnections with other systems. The case study for the integration of solar thermal energy in this heating network, proposed within the SDHp2m project, totally fits in within the development approach already initiated.

The district heating system of Chambéry (Savoie)

The operating company SCDC, subsidiary of Engie Réseaux, operates this district heating system of 51 kilometers. It provides 208 836 MWh of heat per year of which 28 % comes from biomass, 27 % from the energy recovery unit and 45 % from natural gas. The area selected for the case study is the neighborhood of « Croix Rouge » equipped with its own biomass and gas heating plant providing 32 GWh/h of heat (not connected to the energy recovery unit) . This study strengthens the TEPOS (Positive energy territory) approach in which one of the strategic axes is the development of district heating systems using renewable energy.

The district heating system of Pelussin (Loire)

The SIEL, Territoire d’Energie Loire (trade union for energies that operates throughout the Loire department), is responsible for the management of biomass district heating systems for local authorities. The SIEL is in charge of the studies, invests and maintains all the equipment. The local authority reimburses the investment in the form of a rent and is responsible for its biomass supply. The district heating system of Pélussin, operating since 2009 is 1,8 km long. It supplies public buildings as well as individual and collective housing on a ZAC (joint development zone). The 450 kW heating plant provides 1 000 MWh per year (88 % of heat coming from biomass and 12% from propane). Private housing requires an important supply of domestic hot water during the summer, which is essentially provided by an auxiliary propane boiler. The use of thermal solar energy could significantly reduce the consumption of this non-renewable energy.
In 2014, the SIEL has implemented on behalf of the municipality a second biomass district heating system, with equivalent power, to supply about 20 000 m² of public buildings in another area. In the Loire department, the SIEL has already implemented 46 biomass district heating plants. The feasibility studies will be carried out during the summer and the first results will be available in September 2017.

District heating operators who are interested in the topic of solar thermal energy integration can contact the SDHp2m team for a first level of information and referral. Furthermore, ADEME (The French Environment & Energy Management agency) can also finance these case studies.

Mathieu Eberhardt – RhônAlpEnergie Environnement
Alexis Pellat – Region Auvergne Rhône Alpes
Cédric Paulus – INES CEA

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New subsidy program for 4th generation district heating in Germany

2018-06-11T14:22:58+02:00Jul 19th, 2017|

The German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy launched a new subsidy scheme for ‘District Heating Pilot Projects 4.0’ on the 1st of July. In order to get funding, district heating networks have to cover at least 50 % of the annual heat consumption from renewable energy sources or waste heat.

A district heating network 4.0 has a maximum supply temperature of 95°C. Innovations like long-term thermal energy storages or coupling of the electricity and heat sector via large heat pumps or electric boilers are promoted. Via a fundamental orientation towards low-temperature district heating networks, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy aims at enabling a large range of technologies. Support is foreseen for so-called cold district heating networks with 20°C supply temperature as well as for classic district heating systems as long as the supply temperature does not exceed 95°C. However, no more than half of the renewable heat supply should be generated from biomass. Therefore, most of the projects realized so far with 20% of solar heat and 80% of biomass wouldn’t be eligible as pilot project in the framework of this new funding guideline.The objective at political level is to prove the economical and technical feasibility in at least twelve cases thanks to feasibility studies. Moreover, at least six district heating networks should be built or fundamentally transformed by 2020. The district heating networks should have at least 100 connections or a minimum heat supply of 3 GWh per year.

Cost efficiency has high priority: The heat supply from supported networks should be as competitive as heat supply from fossil fuels. Support is foreseen for new construction or transformation of existing networks but low-temperature sub-networks are also eligible. Two stages are planned. In a first step, feasibility studies are supported up to 60%. In a second step, the realization of the networks can be financed up to 50 %. In addition, an allowance up to 80% for information activities to potential users is foreseen, in order to reach a high connection rate. Moreover, the participation of local research organizations is sponsored up to 100 %.

The gradation of the subsidy is new. The district heating grid gets a subsidy of 20 % (or 30 % if the applicant is a Small or Medium Enterprise). In addition, there is a ‘sustainability bonus’ of up to 10 percent: One can receive 0,2 % for every full percentage point of renewable energies or waste heat fraction exceeding the minimum requirement of 50 %.

Another innovation is the ‘cost efficiency bonus’ for especially low heat prices. If the heat price falls below 10 cents per kilowatt hour, this bonus increases step by step. For a heating price of only 5 cent the maximum subsidy of 10 % of eligible costs would be reached. Long-term thermal energy storages are considered standard for district heating networks 4.0 unless it can be demonstrated that their implementation in the system is not economically feasible.

The previous KfW subsidy program for renewable district heating networks is not replaced by this new program and is still valid. A combination of both programs is despite a general non-combination rule possible, if a project is split in several subprojects.

Guido Bröer

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New solar-bioenergy villages in Germany

2018-05-17T10:48:58+02:00Jul 18th, 2017|

Several bioenergy villages with combined biomass and solar heat supply are being realized at the moment in Germany. The idea of solar thermal integration in district heating networks is spreading in rural areas.
In Mengsberg, the largest collector field in a bioenergy village is planned with 3000 m² high-temperature flat-plate collectors. After four years of pre-planning, the contract was signed in April between the local energy cooperative and the company Viessmann, which will deliver the 9 km district heating network with approximately 150 connections turn-key.Also in the region of Lake Constance, more bioenergy villages should be inaugurated until the end of the year. Solarcomplex AG from Singen is realizing a second solar district heating plant in Randegg following the model of the pioneer village of Büsingen. The village of Randegg with 1000 inhabitants is supplied by a biomass boiler since 2009, and 2000 m² solar thermal collectors will now complement the heat supply. In the same region the utility of Radolfzell is planning a district heating network with solar thermal integration. The first pipes will be installed over the summer.

In Rheinland-Pfalz, where a plant was inaugurated last year in Neuerkirch-Külz, the diggers are at work again in the neighboring village of Ellern. Also this district heating network should be supplied by approximately 1200 m² solar thermal collectors. The impulse came from the village itself, and the project group was innovative regarding the communication campaign to reach enough connections for the district heating network to be built: a heat consumption calculator was made available online and ten interested citizens were specifically trained, so that they could inform and convince their neighbors.

At the end of April already, the plant of Hallerndorf (largest in Bavaria) was inaugurated with a public celebration. The operator is the green electricity supplier Naturenergie AG.

In all the new solar-bioenergy villages, the solar plants are dimensioned to cover the complete heat demand in the summer months. Additionally, home owners who decide to connect to the village’s heat supply get free connection to the high-speed internet.

Guido Bröer

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New German solar yield prediction tool for solar district heating systems

2020-04-01T16:50:37+02:00Jul 17th, 2017|

SCFW (ScenoCalc Fernwärme) is an open-source tool based on Microsoft Excel. It was developed within a German research project aiming at extending the scope of the existing tool ScenoCalc to a system level approach and enabling a solar yield prediction specifically for solar district heating systems. The tool can be downloaded for free at www.scfw.de (German language).
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From the roof into the district heating network

2018-06-11T14:24:24+02:00Jul 17th, 2017|

The district heating operator in Berlin-Adlershof BTB enables the connection of a solar thermal plant and an innovative plus-energy house concept for a district via net-metering contract.

The specificity of the business model currently appears very clearly. The 613 m² evacuated-tube collectors from Ritter XL located on two from the five buildings already produce heat since May but the apartments in the buildings are not occupied yet. Still, the future occupants benefit from the heat produced now since the BTB (Blockheizkraftwerks-Träger- und Betreibergesellschaft mbH), operator of the district heating network, has offered the housing company a special deal: every kWh of solar heat which is not needed in the buildings is fed-into the district heating network and accounts for one kWh that will be delivered by the district heating network in the winter.This is a win-win situation. The evacuated-tube collectors produce more over the year than the heat consumption of the five buildings, even if only two of the roofs are covered. The surplus heat is free for the district heating operator. On the other hand, the housing company has guarantee that it does not need to buy heat and can define a relatively cheap fixed rent including heat costs. Thanks to the fact that the network is used as storage, only 10 m³ of storage volume is needed for the five buildings. As soon as these are loaded, the additional solar power is fed into the district heating network.

Guido Bröer

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Experimental solar district heating plant for research activities

2018-06-11T15:47:02+02:00Jul 17th, 2017|

An experimental district heating and cooling is in operation since April 2017 at the French National Research Center for Solar Energy (CEA INES). A 300 m² solar thermal plant with six different technologies of solar panels combined with a 40 m³ storage tank feed the network. This platform is ready for 4th Generation District Heating development as it allows to test decentralized feed-in, power-to-heat equipment, combined heat and power and more.

This experimental platform will allow to implement, test and validate innovative components or systems in real environment, advanced management algorithms, dynamic modeling and simulations. It also links the three different energy vectors (heat, gas, electricity) and is connected with existing INES experimental platform (i.e. PV collectors or electricity storage).The production plant is composed of 300 m² of vacuum tube and flat plate solar collectors with the possibility of implementation of other new fields, a condensing gas boiler of 280 kW and a 40 m3 storage tank. It will be completed in the coming months with a power-to-heat equipment (heat pump) and a combined heat and power boiler. Several dozens of hydraulic configuration of the central plant can be tested. For example, solar collectors can feed in the network either in a centralized or decentralized way with or without storage. One of the consumer is connected to INES semi-virtual test bench that can emulate space heating and domestic hot water loads: it is used to develop and test innovative and decentralized feed-in substations.

An absorption machine coupled with a storage tank of 5 m3 will recover the heat coming from the heat network in order to supply the experimental cooling network. This technology platform will be used to develop and demonstrate new products and systems with industrial partners.

For more information, please contact: cedric.paulus@cea.fr

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Travel to Denmark with a delegation of the Metropolitan Region Hamburg

2018-06-11T15:47:12+02:00Jun 20th, 2017|

On June 13, a delegation of the working group on climate protection and energy of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region visited two SDH sites in Denmark. As local advisory board for the Hamburg region within the SDH project, the working group aims at paving the way for SDH projects in the region. In the Metropolitan Region with 5 million inhabitants, there are already numerous district heating networks in operation – but so far only few with renewable energies.

A group of 25 persons followed the invitation of Hamburg Institut to visit renewable district heating sites in Gram and Vojens / Denmark. The group consisted mostly of expert staff members from counties, ministries and municipalities of the region, all keen to get first-hand information on SDH plants and seasonal heat storages.In Gram they discussed with the manager of the district heating cooperative about the step by step approach of the municipality to transform its district heating system from fossil fuels to renewable energies: Starting in 2009 with a 10 000 m2 solar thermal plant, the cooperative enlarged it in 2014 by another
30 000 m2, and a 110 000 m3 heat storage. Overall, the district heating network in Gram now covers about 60% of its heat with solar energy.After lunch at the castle of Gram, Peter Eijbergen and Christian Stadler from the SDH-manufacturer Arcon-Sunmark, and the consultants Per Alex Sørensen (from PlanEnergi) and Dr. Matthias Sandrock (Hamburg Institut) discussed with the participants the experience and challenges of realising SDH projects in the German market. Technical, legal and financial barriers and solutions to overcome them were analysed – as well as the issue of public acceptance, planning and space availability in a densely populated metropolitan region.

On the way back to Hamburg, the group stopped at Vojens to visit another SDH plant – one of the largest plants in Denmark with
71 500 m2 solar thermal collectors and a seasonal heat storage of 200 000 m3.

The feedback of the participants was very positive: Impressed by the Danish projects and well informed by the SDHp2m partners, participants stated their motivation to bring equivalent projects forward in the Hamburg region.

Simona Weisleder

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