01.
Approach
We created innovative planning tools to streamline the integration of diverse low-temperature renewable and waste energy sources into district heating and cooling systems.
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On July 14, 2021, the European Commission introduced the Fit-for-55 package to align the EU's climate, energy, and taxation policies with the goal of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. This package provided the legal tools to meet the targets set in the Green Deal and European Climate Law. Key legislative changes affecting district heating and cooling include the revisions of the Energy Efficiency Directive (ratified in September 2023), Renewable Energy Directive (October 2023), Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (March 2024), and the EU Emissions Trading System Directive (June 2023).
This document reviews the evolving regulatory framework, highlights areas for improvement and suggests ways to implement changes at the national level.
The solutions database reports on best practices and research on low-temperature district heating and cooling networks. It reviews existing studies on renewable and urban waste heat sources, supply technologies, thermal networks, and end-user substations.
It also examines various system components, conducting SWOT analyses and comparing them to traditional low-temperature systems. An Excel-based calculation tool for energy, economic, and environmental assessments is also provided on the Zenodo platform.
Over 30 configurations are proposed, highlighting different temperature regimes and thermal sources, with comparisons to traditional systems and individual solutions like air-source heat pumps. The analysis considers factors like space heating share, plot ratio, and includes a sensitivity analysis on electricity prices and investments, as well as a PESTLE analysis of these networks.
As part of the REWARDHeat project, a comprehensive spatial and energy analysis of low-temperature heat sources was conducted, resulting in 32 spatial maps covering all 27 EU member states and 5 additional countries. These maps pinpoint urban waste heat, alongside data on energy consumption and heat production from various urban sources. The identified waste heat sources include supermarkets and shopping malls refrigeration and cooling, data centers cooling and power stations cooling systems.
This GIS-based database has been integrated into the REWARDHeat Predesign Tool, where it functions as a core component, providing essential data for predesigning district heating and cooling networks that incorporate local low-temperature waste heat.
REWARDHeat Predesign tool offers unique features in a few relevant areas. The first is the development of a tool for preliminary techno-economic evaluations of neutral-temperature, bidirectional networks. This tool performs yearly calculations with an hourly breakdown, helping us understand the impact of different network temperature levels. It also considers specific network topologies, centralized and distributed energy assets, along with design guidelines and operational constraints.
Additionally, the tool maps the energy potential from low-temperature renewable and waste heat sources within cities. To further enhance this, we’re combining GIS-based data to estimate both energy demand and resources. This is integrated with dedicated modelling approaches to give a more comprehensive understanding of urban energy potential.
The REWARDHeat education platform is designed to showcase important technologies and share project results; It is packed with valuable lessons learned and guidelines. While it primarily targets university students and staff, practitioners and stakeholders new to district energy and waste heat recovery will also find useful insights.
Beyond just being a project output, the platform is an open invitation for contributors to share their knowledge about district energy, low-temperature district heating, and waste energy utilization. We encourage everyone to join in and help expand this resource.
The REWARDHeat Serious Game is an engaging web-based game that lets players dive into the heating sector and explore how to transition to a more sustainable model of district heating. Players assume different roles, each with unique goals and gameplay mechanics.
In this simulated virtual environment, the participant explores the connections between key technical, economic, ecological, and sociopolitical factors, as well as the relationships among stakeholders like producers, consumers, and government. The challenge? Developing strategies to successfully transform the heat supply system of a fictional town into a sustainable low-temperature district heating system. It’s a fun way to learn and contribute to real-world sustainability efforts!
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N. 857811.
The content of this website reflects only the author’s view only and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
