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District Heating and Cooling

2021-2025 / Annex TS7

The Research / IEA DHC Annexes / 2021-2025 / Annex TS7

Annex TS7: Industry-DHC Symbiosis

A systemic approach for highly integrated industrial and thermal energy systems

Background

This Annex aims to identify synergy effects and potentials resulting from sector coupling of industry and thermal energy networks to accelerate their intensified use.

For the decarbonization of the energy system, renewable resources are sometimes limited and not always available locally. From an exergetic point of view, high-quality energy sources should therefore only be used where they are necessary and can be used efficiently. Consequently, the importance of the circular economy and the sensible use of energy sources is increasing. Key aspects of this are the cascading uses of energy. Waste heat from industry plays an increasing role in the decarbonization of district heating networks and in the supply of energy to urban areas. Similarly, the integration of waste heat from industrial processes has been identified as an important research area in the EU strategy for heating and cooling. In contrast, district heating can help to serve production processes with low temperature requirements and thus remove fossil energy from industrial energy systems. The supply of (process) cooling opens new possibilities for decentralized energy concepts. Thermal networks are thus an important base/platform for the mutual exchange of energy (e.g., as a hub between two industrial companies).

The present Annex is intended to present the current state of the art, identify obstacles of implementation, highlight potential applications, and provide recommendations. In doing so, the most diverse requirements of industries/processes are considered, and their possible potential is described.

Subtasks

Subtask 1: Best-practice examples

To support DHC operators, policymakers from all governance levels, urban planners, and energy managers in industrial companies, the following structure of the subtask is proposed:

  1. Review the best practice examples on excess heat recovery and low temperature district heat for industrial process to provide an overview based on R&D projects, demonstrators, and further case studies (TRL 7-9) of symbiosis between thermal networks and the industry.
  2. Identify technical and non-technical barriers and solutions to symbioses resulting from the coupling of thermal networks and industry.
  3. Select relevant cases to make fact sheets highlighting best practices that could feed into existing databases. A broader ‘catalogue’ and references of cases that have been collected could also be annexed to the final task force booklet

Subtask 2: Transformation Strategies

Waste heat is relevant in transformation strategies for going to decarbonized energy systems, as they allow for a more efficient use of energy. In task 3 we will gather existing a) tools and methods for identifying waste heat potentials as well as review b) analyses of waste heat’s role in local and national energy systems.

Subtask 3: Integration options and concepts

The overall objective of Task 3 is to analyze integration options and concepts of industrial energy systems (IES) and district heating and cooling (DHC) networks. In a first step, the decentral integration options and developments of DHC are evaluated (Subtask A). Secondly, decarbonization options and concepts for IES are structured from a holistic, systemic perspective and potentials for integration with DHC are outlined (Subtask B). In a third step, promising integration options between these two systems are analyzed and discussed under consideration of various criteria like e. g., temperature levels, energy efficiency potential, or demand curves (Subtask C). The guiding questions of this task are formulated as followed:

  • What are technical concepts and strategies for both IES and DHC?
  • What are their specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks?
  • Which integration options make sense to use synergies and to minimize trade-offs?

Subtask 4: Future-proof business models

As decarbonizing the economy moves up the business agenda, new business models and -cases emerge. In connection with task 1, best practice examples outstanding demonstrations of business integration will be presented here.

Subtask 5: Guidebook & Dissemination

The focus of this subtask is to collect and distribute information on on-going and finished work. This includes the set-up of an information platform and the organisation of seminars and workshops.

The results of Subtasks 1, 2, 3 and 4 are to be provided as input to the joint activity herein. All collected information and task-related results will be published via conferences and the guidebook. A web-based information platform, open seminars and widespread scientific publications will provide sources of disseminating information. Also, new target groups are to be identified and new means of spreading information will be implemented, where it appears to be sensible. The plan is to condense the findings of Annex TS7 activities to simplify public access and use of the results.

TS7 task manager

Please contact the TS7 task manager if you would like to join the task-shared Annex or have any other questions concerning Annex TS7. Thank you.

Christian Schützenhofer
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Christian.Schuetzenhofer(at)ait.ac.at