Efficient district heating and cooling. Does it promote the 2050 decarbonisation goals?

Panel: 3. Policy, finance and governance

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Juan Pablo Jiménez, The Netherlands
Faidra Filippidou, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, The Netherlands
Konstantinos Kavvadias, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
Johan Carlsson, Joint Research Centre, European Commission

Abstract

This work aims to provide a new definition of efficient district heating and cooling that better aligns with the decarbonisation goals set for the energy system by 2050. To do so, it elaborates on the current definition provided in the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Directives.

Through the interpretation and discussion of the limitations of the current definition, the final goal is to help policy makers understand the provisions required to set effective energy policies for district heating and cooling. Only by doing that can the framework needed to monitor its effective evolution towards the decarbonisation of the energy sector in Europe be established.

With this goal, we, first, provide our interpretation of the current definition of efficient district heating and cooling. We continue identifying areas that can be improved in future legislative acts without changing the scope of the current definition. These areas include the requirements for the harmonisation of the energy vectors to be accounted, the role of cogeneration and thermal losses, and the combination of thresholds required to comply with the current definition. In addition, we thoroughly review the role of cogenerated heat in the framework of district heating and cooling. This includes the use of fuels, the associated efficiencies and CO2 emissions, and ultimately the right criteria to assess those.

Our analysis shows that a definition based only on energy efficiencies and combination of input fuels is not enough to ensure low-carbon district heating and cooling. Therefore, a new definition based on the carbon intensity together with a carbon threshold that decreases over time should be included in the coming EU legislation. Under this approach, we conclude that the existing definition with some additional provision may only be valid until 2030 and that fossil-fuelled CHP cannot fit in efficient district heating and cooling, even if highly efficient. After 2030, more restrictive CO2 requirements have to be in place.

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