Sponsored by Euroheat & Power and the International District Energy Association (IDEA), the awards were given in five categories: for a new scheme, a modernization project, an expansion project, an emerging market project, and an innovative project.
The winner in the new scheme category was Qatar’s own Lusail City District Cooling project. This district cooling system will supply chilled water to Qatar’s largest development to date through an integrated network with a connected cooling of 500,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) by utilizing four chiller plants. Once completed, it will be one of the largest district cooling systems in the world.
Winning in the emerging market category was Spain’s Torrelago District Heating project in Laguna de Duero, Spain. As part of a renovation project, the heat network serving around 4000 residents is expected to be completed in 2018. The renovation includes installation of a 33 kWe/73.4 kWth micro-cogeneration system, smart control solutions and energy efficiency measures. The renovation is expected to reduce the district’s energy demand by 50 per cent.
The modernization project winner was Latvia’s Salaspils Siltums, which began fully reconstructing its heat network in 2010. High efficiency gas boilers and a wood chip boiler house were installed; the wood chip boiler was updated with a flue gas condenser, automatic control system and remote data reading system.
In the expansion category, the city of Tartu in Estonia has expanded its heat network from a Soviet-era network to a modern, efficient system which runs on a biomass- and peat-fuelled combined heat and power (CHP) plant, commissioned in 2009. The city also boasts Eastern Europe’s first district cooling network and has implemented a number of bespoke heat solutions for customers such as Estonia’s National Museum. Last year automatic smart meter readers were installed for 72 per cent of the city’s heat customers.
In the “out of the box” category, which recognizes innovation in district energy, the winner was a demonstration project in Gothenburg, Sweden which connects a passenger ship, the Stena Danica, to the local heat network. The heating system replaces the ship’s oil-fired boilers and reduces its emissions by as much as 60 per cent, as well as eliminating SOx and NOx emissions by over 90 per cent and reducing neighbourhood noise levels.