Transition schemes for District Heating in operation

RELaTED developed a set of guidelines on how the low temperature concepts can be applied for operational high temperature district heating networks. This document is part of a series of RELaTED reports describing low temperature concepts from different perspectives.

The guidelines were created based on best practices because most DH networks are different in visions, DH network topology, temperature levels, building installations, tariff structure, and management. Nevertheless, as an illustration, the authors mainly refer to the example of Belgrade.

They cover strategic and integrated energy planning for the transition process and how to implement it, as well as the integration of the existing system. For the DH supplier, the focus is economic with investments, operating expenses, and the possible income from heat sales. While the customers might focus on the total energy cost and how it affects the customers’ economy after the transition. It describes different types of temperature reduction measures for network sectioning in a centralized DH network topology.

Moreover, the report explores the scenarios for how the transition will roll out over a longer time, including changes in energy demand and potential new energy resources. Also, it discusses the pros and cons regarding temperature levels of the network in transition and how it affects the changes in building installations and heat loss in the network. In addition, it defines the implementation measures involved in how the delivery conditions, as well as the technical building systems specifications, and how building renovation regulations can influence this process. Finally, operation and management cover how the operation and the management of the system are handled in the transition process and afterwards.

The guidelines will be used in the following work of RELaTED.