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What is the impact of the policy framework on the future of district heating in Eastern European countries? The case of Brasov
Abstract
District heating in general is seen as an important opportunity to decarbonise the heating sector especially in urban areas and therefore important to reach European and global climate goals. In this case study we analyse possible future scenarios for the city of Brasov, Romania. Like in many other cities in Eastern Europe a district heating system exists in the city, however, facing severe challenges like old and inefficient infrastructure and loss of consumers due to unreliability of supply over the last decades. This work assesses the impact of different policies on the feasibility of renewable and efficient heating under various conditions and suggests favourable policy frameworks to ensure an economically and ecologically viable future heating system for the city.
... One reason for this is that there are common district heating systems from the communist era in many Eastern European cities. They are often characterized by very high temperatures, fossil fuels, and outdated technologies [38]. for this is that there are common district heating systems from the communist era in many Eastern European cities. ...
... for this is that there are common district heating systems from the communist era in many Eastern European cities. They are often characterized by very high temperatures, fossil fuels, and outdated technologies [38]. ...
Low temperature district heating and cooling networks (5GDHC) in combination with very shallow geothermal energy potentials enable the complete renewable heating and cooling supply of settlements up to entire city districts. With the help of 5GDHC, heating and cooling can be distributed at a low temperature level with almost no distribution losses and made useable to consumers via decentralized heat pumps (HP). Numerous renewable heat sources, from wastewater heat exchangers and low-temperature industrial waste heat to borehole heat exchangers and large-scale geothermal collector systems (LSC), can be used for these networks. The use of large-scale geothermal collector systems also offers the opportunity to shift heating and cooling loads seasonally, contributing to flexibility in the heating network. In addition, the soil can be cooled below freezing point due to the strong regeneration caused by the solar irradiation. Multilayer geothermal collector systems can be used to deliberately generate excessive cooling of individual areas in order to provide cooling energy for residential buildings, office complexes or industrial applications. Planning these systems requires expertise and understanding regarding the interaction of these technologies in the overall system. This paper provides a summary of experience in planning 5GDHC with large-scale geothermal collector systems as well as other renewable heat sources.
... The viability of large heat pumps in existing district heating systems has been examined also in Finland, in the study at Ref. [10], where the feasible share of heat pump production has been quantified by simulating different sized DH systems with energyPRO. This software has been used in a variety of other European case studies aimed at transitioning towards more sustainable and less-emissive energy systems, as in [11] where the replacement of coal boilers with natural gas boilers has been validated, and in several studies finalized in promoting the integration in existing district heating networks of renewable sources, such as biomass and solar thermal technologies in combination with large scale heat pumps [12][13][14][15], and of excess heat sources, such a local refinery [16], datacentres [17], waste-to-energy plants [18]. In this latter paper, also the integration of heat storages is considered, which allows the peak shaving effect: the required installed capacity is reduced, together with the related needs for investment in peaking capacities. ...
The process of achieving decarbonization and greenhouse emissions’ reduction goals is facilitated and accelerated by the implementation of renewable-based DH rather than multiple individual renewables systems. This work presents an application case that demonstrates how an energy system based on conventional and carbon-emitting heat supply sources can be converted in a fully renewable network.
In its current configuration, the city under study, located in Northern Italy, gets 40% of the total 160GWh of heat demand of the DH from a waste-to-energy plant, 9% from a biomass-fuelled ORC, 33% from natural gas cogeneration and 18% from natural gas boilers. In order to support the city’s municipality in developing decarbonization measures through the modernization of the current district heating network, the aim of this work is to investigate in detail the possibility to integrate local renewable and excess heat sources, whose availability and synergy with the heat demand has been highlighted by a recent mapping-based project developed with the Italian DH Association, AIRU, on the whole Italian territory. The present work can be therefore seen as a validation case study of the methodology developed at large-scale level in the latter project. The results of that analysis show that there are the conditions to meet 90% of the heating needs of the DH with renewables and waste heat recovery from two already existing plants, namely a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and a steelwork. The approach used in this work, in which different scenarios of integration are simulated in energyPRO, brought to the definition of the energy mix which evidenced a favourable cost–benefits ratio: 59% of thermal energy from the steelwork, 31% from the WWTP, 5% from the natural gas CHP and 5% from the boilers.
... District heating plays a key role in achieving ambitious global climate change mitigation goals [17], [18], therefore it is necessary for the authorities to design instruments and introduce benchmarks that would monitor and stimulate DH providers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonization of DH providers can be achieved by utilizing more efficient technologies or using less polluting energy sources, therefore moving closer towards fully implementing a renewable, sustainable, carbon-free DH system [19]. ...
District heating (DH) has been highlighted as an important part in future carbon neutral energy supply. However, the performance of different DH systems varies a lot and the existing regulations do not always motivate DH companies to move toward more sustainable heat production. Therefore, this article presents novel methodology for Climate index determination which can be further used for the comparison of DH systems. The Climate index includes seven different indicators which show DH system performance according to energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental impact dimensions. The methodology is applied for 20 different DH systems operating in Latvia. The results show that the performance of 5 natural gas-based DH systems is below the determined climate benchmark.
... Furthermore, a significant increase in costs of European CO 2 emission allowances from an average of 5 EUR/t CO2 to around 20-25 EUR/t CO2 has taken place in 2018, and additionally fossil energy prices are subject to high fluctuations and affect electricity and heat generation costs. So far, only a few assessments have been published on political framework conditions and its influence on the feasibility of district heating systems: e.g., the assessment in [4] evaluates the impact of different policy frameworks on the future of district heating in a case study city in Romania and shows that Energies 2020, 13, 2457; doi:10.3390/en13102457 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies ...
In this paper, opportunities and challenges of concrete portfolio options of an Austrian district heating (DH) supplier are assessed against the background of current challenges of the DH sector. The following steps are performed: (1) analysis of status quo; (2) analysis of current and possible future economic framework conditions; (3) definition of four concrete future portfolio options for investment planning until the year 2030; (4) modeling of status quo and future portfolios together with the respective framework conditions in a linear dispatch optimization model; and (5) perform techno-economic analysis for each portfolio under the different possible future framework conditions. The expected increase in renewable power generation capacity is likely to increase volatility in future electricity prices with hours of both very low and very high prices. This higher volatility results in higher technical flexibility requirements for the heat generation plants and a need for heat generation portfolios to respond to both high and low electricity prices. The results indicate that the combination of heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP) plants is well suited to cope with these challenges from a microeconomic point of view. At the same time, we show that a shift to a high share of renewables of more than 60%, implying a complete exit of gas fired CHPs, is also feasible with costs in a very similar range as the current DH generation portfolio.
... • Economic parameters: fuel and electricity prices [15], tax payments, specific investments in technologies [16]; • Institutional parameters: standards of building efficiency, heat and power generating plants, policy instruments for implementation of various measures [17]; • Social parameters: sufficiency of heat for households, arrangement of the city environment [18]. Improvement of efficiency at consumers, by implementing energy efficiency measures, installing heat insulation of buildings and implementing innovative projects (passive buildings or buildings as a heat storage) [19], is among the most important factors forcing a DH utility to plan its operations in advance and affecting heat costs [20]. ...
Transition of the district heating (DH) system to the 4th generation system involves several challenges, which refer not only to the introduction of state-of-art technologies, but also to the development of a sustainable pricing methodology. Introduction of the 4th generation systems will soon force the DH industry to solve issues regarding the possibility of organisation of the market in the same way as it happened in the power industry (Directive 2009/72/EC) by complete separation of producers from the transmission system service providers. The present article discusses various development scenarios of a DH utility within the framework of an organised market and their pricing methodologies, as well as evaluates their sustainability considering the transition to the 4th generation system.
This paper presents an overview of policy frameworks for district heating (DH) in Europe. We develop a classification for policy aspects addressing DH, comprising regulation of ownership, prices, metering, consumer grid connection, third party access as well as support schemes and carbon taxes. This classification builds on existing literature and expert assessments collected in an online survey and interviews. The relevance of the paper lies in giving a comprehensive picture of the existing policy frameworks for DH in 23 European countries. For the overview, the countries are clustered along assigned categories. It is shown that the policy frameworks for DH can be clustered into five distinguishable groups. While some countries apply very strict regulations in special DH laws, others rely on less regulatory intervention, both with varying degrees of support for DH in place. The different policy frameworks are discussed in the context of the diffusion of DH and the integration of renewable and waste heat in DH. This analysis shows that high shares of DH and high shares of renewable and waste heat in DH can be observed in countries with a high degree of regulation as well as in countries with less regulatory intervention in DH markets.
District heating is of great significance for the Nordic countries due to the high heat demand. The Finnish government has set a national target of carbon neutrality in 2035. This implies a huge challenge and rapid system change. The Helsinki metropolitan area consists of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa, and in each city a different district heating company operates, and the technologies planned for decarbonization are different. This research aims to analyze these strategies with respect to carbon dioxide emissions and production costs, assuming different future European Union emissions carbon trading prices. The software EnergyPRO is used to provide least-cost optimal district heating operation solutions. From 2010 to 2030, carbon dioxide emissions from the Helsinki metropolitan area district heating will decrease by about 4.2 million tonnes. However, the average heat production costs are expected to increase considerably by almost threefold; while heat trade between the cities will reinforce the feasibility and decreases the system operation costs and total emissions. Helsinki will import heat, especially from Vantaa waste incineration plants. Higher carbon dioxide prices would reduce the total emissions, increase the total district heating operation costs, and lower the heat imported to Helsinki. As all the cities plan biomass as an alternative to fossil fuels, a higher biomass price would limit its consumption but increase natural gas usage the carbon dioxide emissions. In the future, combined heat and power plants will be used significantly less, leading to lost income on electricity sales and profoundly changing the business of the district heating companies.
Coal-fired heating is the main method of heating in China, causing serious air pollution and large amounts of CO2 emissions. Decarbonizing heating is important to reduce carbon emissions, and choosing a suitable heating technical scheme is conducive to the early realization of carbon neutrality in China. Coal to gas and coal to electricity transformation projects were carried out in 2017 and achieved remarkable effects. This study compares the current domestic and international clean heating modes, where gas heating, electric heating, heat hump heating, biomass heating, and solar heating coupling system are taken into account. The heating technology potential and heating support aspects, including the industrial sector, building sector, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, and publicity are explored as well. Regarding the actual situation in China, a comparative analysis is also conducted on the different types of heat pumps, and then an optimal heating scheme for urban and rural areas is proposed. It is suggested that the urban area with centralized heating can install ground source heat pumps, and the rural area with distributed heating can apply a coupling system of solar photovoltaics to ground source heat pumps (PV-GSHP). Based on current policies and standards support, this study calculates the carbon emissions of this scheme in 2030 and provides a detailed analysis of relevant parameters. The feasibility and superiority of the scheme are confirmed by comparison and discussion with other studies. Moreover, specific measures in planning, subsidy, construction, and electricity are proposed to implement the heating scheme. This study provides a reference for the mode selection and technical scheme of heating decarbonation in China, and that could be also considered in other regions or countries.
Implementation of 4th or 5th generation district heating system needs a complex solution as it involves an energy source, a heating network and consumers. Retrofitting of buildings and energy efficiency level have been the main factors defining an implementation of the low temperature heat solutions. When evaluating the national heat supply system, it is difficult to evaluate the readiness of buildings to accept lower temperature heat carriers. Therefore, the system dynamics modelling approach has been used to determine the links between different elements of 4th generation district heating system in the long-term perspective. The developed system dynamic model allows evaluating whether the allocated financial support is sufficient for reaching the set energy efficiency goals, as well as to achieve the desired performance of district heating systems. The study analysed various policy measures and their long-term effects. The modelling results show that support in the form of subsidies has a greater impact on key targets than tax increases. In the combined policy scenario with increased fossil fuel tax and subsidies for RES technologies it is possible to achieve the share of RES up to 80 % in DH and 62 % in individual heat supply.
This work aims at showing the unexploited potential of waste and renewable heat in Italy through detailed mapping of these sources. The ambition is to highlight the areas with an important heat recovery potential that could be exploited through DH expansion. The recoverable heat sources have been analysed in terms of geographical location, and recovery aspects with a special focus on temperature levels and technological implications for temperature upgrades. The methodology presented in this work addresses not only the theoretical potential of waste heat and renewable heat use in DH, but also several technical aspects to get a result as closer as possible to the realistic potential at national level. Two different approaches have been used to map potential heat: one to quantify existing waste heat recovery from industrial processes, waste to energy plants, wastewater treatment plants and one to estimate the energy coming from potential new plants based on biomass, geothermal energy and solar thermal. Results shows that for a total heat demand for the civil sector of 329 TWh, out of which 114 TWh come out being suitable for a DH connection, the national available waste and renewable heat that could be integrated in DH amounts to 156 TWh. These results show the significant unexpressed potential of waste heat use in Italy and how its mapping is essential to properly estimate the utilization potential. This work has been commissioned by AIRU, Italian DH association.
This paper discusses different decarbonisation scenarios for an existing district heating (DH) network supplied by coal-fired combined heat and power plants in Germany. Integrating higher shares of renewable heat is indispensable in reaching the climate goal and CO2 emission reduction targets. The study analyses the technical and economic aspects of integrating various technologies such as solar thermal, biomass boilers, waste incineration plant and heat pumps into the existing DH network, with the main focus on large-scale heat pumps. The approach consists of two main steps. First, we forecast future heat demand and the potential to extend the DH system by simulating the evolution and energy consumption of the city's building stock. Second, we use a supply dispatch model with hourly resolution to calculate alternative scenarios and sensitivities for the supply mix with a focus on heat pumps.
Our results show that, under the current regulatory and economic framework, large-scale heat pumps are not cost competitive with the existing coal-fired CHP units. However, redesigning the regulatory framework and optimising heat pump design and operation could achieve cost parity. The CO2 price induced by the EU emissions trading scheme will most likely not be a sufficient incentive in short and medium term.
In this work a method for integrated strategic heating and cooling planning applicable for any city or region is presented and applied for the case study city of Brasov. The overall methodology comprises the calculation of the cost-optimal combination of heat savings with either district heating or individual supply technologies for different building groups located in different areas according to the availability of a current district heating network. This optimal combination is calculated for different scenarios and framework conditions, and different indicators like total system costs, total CO2 emissions, share of renewables etc. are calculated and compared to analyse the economic efficiency as well as the CO2 reduction potentials of various options to save heat and supply heat in the buildings. The results of the assessment show that in the assessed case study city heat savings of 58–78% are cheaper than all assessed heat supply options for the different building groups but that renewable supply options are not the most economical alternatives per se under stated conditions. The presented integrated planning process reveals that long term planning is essential to reach decarbonisation goals and that current framework conditions should be adapted to generate more favourable conditions for renewable heating systems.
The purpose with this review is to provide a presentation of the background for the current position for district heating and cooling in the world, with some deeper insights into European conditions. The review structure considers the market, technical, supply, environmental, institutional, and future contexts. The main global conclusions are low utilisation of district heating in buildings, varying implementation rates with respect to countries, moderate commitment to the fundamental idea of district heating, low recognition of possible carbon dioxide emission reductions, and low awareness in general of the district heating and cooling benefits. The cold deliveries from district cooling systems are much smaller than heat deliveries from district heating systems. The European situation can be characterised by higher commitment to the fundamental idea of district heating, lower specific carbon dioxide emissions, and higher awareness of the district heating and cooling benefits. The conclusions obtained from the six contexts analysed show that district heating and cooling systems have strong potentials to be viable heat and cold supply options in a future world. However, more efforts are required for identification, assessment, and implementation of these potentials in order to harvest the global benefits with district heating and cooling.
There is a considerable diversity of district heating (DH) technologies, components and interaction in EU countries. The trends and developments of DH are investigated in this paper. Research of four areas related to DH systems and their interaction with: fossil fuels, renewable energy (RE) sources, energy efficiency of the systems and the impact on the environment and the human health are described in the following content. The key conclusion obtained from this review is that the DH development requires more flexible energy systems with building automations, more significant contribution of RE sources, more dynamic prosumers׳ participation, and integration with mix fuel energy systems, as part of smart energy sustainable systems in smart cities. These are the main issues that Europe has to address in order to establish sustainable DH systems across its countries.
District heating and cooling systems move heat in urban areas. Heat and cold are generated in central supply units by heat or cold recycling, renewables, or by direct heat or cold generation. The heat and cold demands should be concentrated in order to keep low distribution costs. District heating and cooling systems substitute ordinary primary energy supply for heating and cooling. Therefore, district heating and cooling increase both energy efficiency and decarbonisation in the global energy system. However, district heating and cooling is a highly underestimated energy efficiency and decarbonisation method in contemporary energy policy, both nationally and internationally.
In the light of the EU directive for renewable energy (2009/28/EC) this paper deals with the question how various policy instruments could impact the development of renewable heating technologies. The paper applies the simulation model Invert/EE-Lab for the building related heat demand in selected European countries (Austria, Lithuania and United Kingdom). The resulting scenarios up to 2030 are compared to RES-Heat targets from literature, stakeholder consultation processes and the targets in the national renewable energy action plans submitted by EU Member States in 2010. The results demonstrate that use obligations for renewable heating can be effective in achieving RES-Heat market growth. However, in order to attain a balanced technology mix and more ambitious targets, policy packages are required combining use obligations with economic incentives and accompanying measures. Technology specific conclusions are derived. Moreover, conclusions indicate that the action plans are not always consistent with policy measures in place or under discussion.
One of the factors inhibiting the expansion of cogeneration has been the lack of appropriate thermal energy users. The imbalance between thermal and electrical loads is especially pronounced in the Northeast and Midwest, where declining industrial thermal loads coexist with attractive electrical sales potential. In the nonindustrial sector, the imbalances are usually even more limiting. A possible new yet not-so-new solution may be to marry cogeneration to district heating/cooling (DHC) systems. DHC systems centrally produce steam, hot water and/or chilled water for piped distribution to major building complexes: downtown loops, campuses, housing projects, etc.
The paper presents the birth and evolution of the cogeneration-based district heating (DH) system in a medium size city in Romania (Targoviste). The evolution of the industrialization degree was the main factor which controlled the population growth and led to a continuous reconfiguration of the DH system. The DH system assisted by cogeneration emerged as a solution in a certain phase of the demographic development of the city. The political and social changes occurring in Romania after 1990 have had important negative consequences on the DH systems in small towns. In Targoviste the DH system survived but in 2001 the solution based on cogeneration became economically inefficient, due to the low technical quality of the existing equipment and the low gas prices, to the procedure of setting the DH tariffs and the service cost at consumer's level and to some bureaucratic problems. Energy policy measures taken at national and local levels in 2003 and 2005 led to the re-establishment of the cogeneration-based district heating in 2005. However, a different technical solution has been adopted. Details about the present (2009) cogeneration-based DH system in Targoviste are presented together with several technical and economical indicators. The main conclusion is that by a proper amendment of the technical solutions, cogeneration could be a viable solution for DH even in case of abrupt social and demographic changes, such as those occurring in Romania after 1990.
Many states in Eastern and Central Europe (ECE) possess extensive district heating (DH) networks that were constructed during the days of communist rule in order to provide a universally accessible energy service that supported Soviet development policies. But the post-communist transition was marked by the exacerbation of the sector’s numerous technical, economic, regulatory and environmental problems, accompanied by its abandonment in favour of alternative methods of domestic heating. Recent efforts to increase the use of DH in ECE as a result of environmental and energy security concerns have taken place in an absence of critical, context-sensitive research.The purpose of this paper is to explore the legal aspects of post-communist DH reforms in Romania, with the aim of identifying some of the governance challenges faced by state authorities in managing the sector. In broader terms, we seek to explore the extent to which the Romanian legislative framework is in a position to promote energy efficiency in DH. This has been achieved via an analysis of formal policy documents, government decrees, strategic documents and laws pertaining to this sector, as published and subsequently amended in the Official Gazette. The conclusions of the paper identify the key regulatory issues in the sector—especially with respect to the tariff setting process and the division of competences among different organisations in it—while suggesting a set of policy steps and general restructuring approaches that could help overcome the current situation.