Høng District Heating Plant has chosen Arcon-Sunmark to supply a solar heating system, covering an area of 20,034 m2. The project comprises 1,590 solar collectors, a technical building and technical installations, including an Industrial Control System (operation, regulation and monitoring), while Høng District Heating Plant will be responsible for the construction of a 3,000 m3 accumulation tank. The solar heating system will supply 20% of the total district heating requirements, while the remaining district heating requirements will be supplied by a woodchip boiler and a straw boiler. With the exception of the accumulation tank, Arcon-Sunmark will supply the turnkey contract for the solar heating solution. It is expected to be operational by 1 May 2019.
“Here at Høng District Heating Plant, we’re very pleased that there is now a signed agreement with Arcon-Sunmark for the construction of a solar heating system. The solar heating system will now become a reality, and this is a result of long-term preparation, and when the system is complete in the spring of 2019, it will contribute to the production of environmentally friendly, price-stable district heating for the benefit of the plant’s consumers,” says Høng District Heating Plant Operations Manager, Henrik Rohde.
Solar heating is popular
Large-scale solar heating has become a popular choice among Danish district heating plants that use biofuels. So popular in fact, that major solar heating projects dominate the tender list for biomass district heating plants in 2018. In addition to the reasons that are also outlined by Høng District Heating Plant, large-scale solar heating provides a competitive price compared to even completely new biomass district heating plants and also delivers benefits in relation to the overall operation of heating plants. A solar heating system means that the heating district plant can switch off the boilers wholly or partially during the summer period. The biomass district heating plant can be serviced in an orderly manner during these periods, which extends its lifetime. At the same time, production costs are very low during these periods, because solar heating systems mainly require sunlight to produce heat. When servicing a biomass district heating plant, you would normally have to supply heat using expensive fuels such as oil or gas.
“This year’s record-breaking summer has been completely extreme in terms of sunlight and heat. But with ordinary summers, district heating plants like Høng will experience longer periods where the biomass part of the heat production can be switched off. This results in good operation and maintenance of the plant, and thus results in an improved budget in both the short term and the long term,” says Ole Dalby, CEO at Arcon-Sunmark.
Arcon-Sunmark expects that interest in large-scale solar heating among Danish biomass district heating plants will continue in 2019.
Høng solar heating system
• Start of construction: October 2018
• Expected commissioning: May 2019
• Solar capture area: 20,034 m2
• Calculated annual production: 8,500 MWh
• Total number of detached houses whose annual heating requirements will be met: 470 (standard homes 18.1 MWh/year)
• Share of total district heating requirements: 20% (remaining district heating requirements met by biomass heating)
• Storage capacity: 2,500 m3 accumulation tank
• Lifetime: At least 25 years
Further information
• Contact: Ole Dalby, CEO, Arcon-Sunmark A/S, mobile tel.: +45 23 26 14 60