In the upcoming decade, an increasing number of urban centers, municipalities, and local areas will need to establish a District Heating (DH) company. Throughout this journey – spanning from the initial decision-making phase to the operational launch of the company – there exist several pivotal stages that significantly influence the extent to which the community will successfully achieve its objectives.
Please, read the latest Hot Cool magazine here.
9 steps toward establishing a DH company.
In this issue of Hot Cool, we focus on the stages of developing a DH company. But also, on considerations to be made even before you get started. The article “How to start a DH company” introduces the process. Circumstances vary from country to country, so pick the parts which give meaning to your plans – and hopefully you will be inspired. You will find all the steps in the article by Lars Gullev here.
Not-for-profit District Heating Networks – a new economic model for Scotland?
Over the coming decade, Scotland must decarbonise heating and make its buildings as efficient as possible to meet its climate change objectives and have a chance of staying with a 2-degree rise in global temperatures. Of course, buildings and the built environment are just one piece of the decarbonisation puzzle to be solved. It’s a huge task – even today, in the UK, as much as 80% of the homes are still heated by fossil fuels – mainly natural gas. Please, find Duncan Smith’s suggestions for a solution in the column here.
What is the right price – for connecting to DH?
The amount of money people must pay up-front to connect to district heating (DH) matters. It affects the number of people who will sign-up, and it impacts the economy and risks of a DH project. In this article, Hanne Kortegaard Støchkel and Daniel Møller Sneum share insights from Denmark and offer advice on making a DH project more robust. Please, find the article here.
The curious case of district heating cost stability
The commonality of infrastructure systems is that they enable not only cost-optimized operation but also a cost-stable operation. District energy systems, whether district heating or cooling, are no different. By careful thermal planning, identification of possible heat or cool sources, and applying a favorable mix of thermal generation technologies, the district energy utilities can ensure optimal thermal generation cost, exceptional cost stability, and operational resilience.
This article highlights the importance of choosing the optimal heat generation technology mix based on both investment costs (CAPEX) as well as operating costs (OPEX). By adopting multi-source operation, district energy utilities can significantly reduce the thermal generation cost compared to single-source operation. You can read the full article here.