Milan, Italy

The City of Milan

Milan is the capital of Lombardy, and Italy's second-largest city after Rome. Milan is the home of the Italian stock exchange and the economic heart of the country, with a population of 3.26 million people. Milan is known as one of the world's four fashion capitals in addition to its industrial activities.

The Demonstrator

The Milan demonstrator is operated by A2A Calore & Servizi and is composed of two pilot sites located in viale Gadio and via Balilla. Two small-scale district heating and cooling networks will operate at neutral temperature and will integrate RES and waste heat. The demonstrator aims to achieve the following goals:

  • Installation of the network, and substations at building level
  • Implementation of hardware/software for smart monitoring and control
  • Develop business models adapted to the local context

Viale Gadio

The demonstrator in via Gadio consists of a newly built low-temperature DH network that exploits the excess heat from an electric transformer as a source of waste heat. Excess heat from the transformer is currently dissipated into the air by means of dry coolers and an oil circuit. This heat, which is available at 30/40°C, and constant throughout the year, will be used as a thermal source for the space heating inside the municipal aquarium and inside the electrical cabinet.

Excess heat will be extracted using a heat pump. Booster heat pumps will also be installed, and thermal energy storage systems will operate centrally.

Via Balilla

The demonstrator in via Balilla consists of a newly built neutral-temperature DH network that exploits groundwater from existing wells as a thermal source.

The network will use high-density polypropylene pipes and exploit heat from groundwater wells that is available throughout the year between 10°C and15°C. This heat will be used as a thermal source for three existing buildings: a kindergarten, a municipal center, and a residential building. Thermal loads will be covered by heat pumps combined with thermal energy storage systems.