On the 6th-8th of November 2023, a delegation of Polish district heating professionals from the association Krajowa Izba Transformacji Energetyki I Cieplownictwa (Kiteic) visited Denmark – specifically Zealand.
With the support of the Royal Danish Embassy in Warsaw, DBDH had crafted a comprehensive program tailored to the preferences expressed by the Polish side before the visit.
The phasing out of coal in the Polish district heating sector is receiving much attention. Therefore, there is great interest in the technologies that, in the future, will ensure a stable, climate-friendly district heating supply in the country.
The visit started at DBDH with a general introduction to district heating in Denmark – history and visions for further expansion -and continued to Næstved District Heating Company, where there was, among other things, a focus on surplus from waste incineration (Waste-to-Energy). Today, there are only 3-4 waste incineration plants in Poland – on the other hand, enormous amounts of waste are deposited in landfills.
The next day, the group went to Høje Taastrup District Heating Company, where the focus was on low-temperature district heating and the large new heat storage of 70,000 m3, which Høje Taastrup District Heating Company has established in collaboration with VEKS.
On to FORS (district heating company) in Roskilde, where utilization of the energy in purified wastewater via a heat pump was presented to end the day at Albertslund District Heating Company, where the transition to low-temperature district heating in a 40–50-year-old district heating network was shown – for technicians, the transition from 3GDH to 4GDH was presented.
The final day commenced at Egedal District Heating Company, where the group learned about successfully connecting 6,500 customers to district heating before 2030 – along with current and future district heating production methods.
The last visit was to Hillerød Utility, reviewing the green transformation of the district heating supply in the background of the current and future production technologies.
With the compressed visit now concluded, the delegation returned to Gdansk, hopefully brimming with impressions and inspiration to facilitate the green transformation of the Polish district heating sector.