Distributed District Heating

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Expanding the Flexibility of District Heating

District heating networks provide heating and hot water to cities, towns and villages in many countries across Europe. Many district heating networks utilise waste heat, heat from incineration or renewable energy to generate the heat, however, demand doesn’t always match the supply.

Heating demand is seasonal, with high demand during winter and low demand during summer. This presents a challenge for district heating companies who often have excess heat during the summer months and a deficit during winter. Seasonal thermal energy storage is a great solution to this problem of supply and demand. It allows excess heat from the summer to be stored until it’s needed in winter.

By distributing storage through the district heating network, heat can be stored close to where it will be used. It’s also possible to place storage near existing heat pumps to ensure they can operate at their maximum efficiency, even during the colder months.

Adding solar thermal collectors can generate a substantial amount of heat that can be stored for winter, securing heat supply and eliminating the need to spin up additional heat generators.

The flexibility of seasonal thermal energy storage can also offers district heating companies the opportunity to provide small scale district heating to towns that are outside of the main heating network.