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Large-scale implementation of peak heating power optimization and demand-response in residential buildings connected to district heating systems

Panel: 5. Smart and sustainable communities

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Romain Lambert, Imperial College London
Stephan Kolb, Danfoss, Belgium
Lauri Leppä, Leanheat Ltd, Finland
Susanne Tull, Rue Jacques de Lalaing 4, 1040 Brussles, Belgium

Abstract

Digitalisation has been an important trend within the district energy sector in recent years. A key area of interest is the use of intelligent demand side management technology for heat peak load reduction and reduction of bottlenecks. Demand side management offers an attractive alternative to investments in peak plant capacity or centralized storage. Peak power optimisation (PPO) using demand side management through predictive control has been a research area for several years, but its full scale implementation on large district heating networks is not trivial.

This paper documents the experience of implementing PPO on a cluster of 45k apartments.

– Firstly it defines the challenges of optimizing the overall energy performance of an entire district-heating system with multiple energy carriers.

– Secondly, a description of the model predictive control approach is given outlining the challenges presented by the tradeoffs between:

i) the end-use energy performance of both building space and water heating systems,

ii) the comfort of occupants, and,

iii) the economic optimization at network level through the profiling of heat generation. It is shown that, on average 15 kWh/m2/a end-use energy savings were achieved, corresponding to a reduction of 5200 kt CO2/a.

This approach also leads to an increase in the utilization of carbon-neutral energy carriers, thus achieving further CO2 emission reductions. Available feedback from building occupants and owners is presented as well as comments from the district heating operator. In addition, potential market barriers for a larger-scale rollout of PPO technology are outlined.The paper concludes with suggestions on how energy and climate policies could improve the overall building/district-heating system performance, for a successful energy transition in the district energy sector.

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Download this paper as pdf: 5-300-19_Lambert.pdf