Get inspired by 18 cases of digitalisation and data-driven operations from Denmark's district heating sector. Denmark is heading towards a transformation of the energy system. Away from fossil fuels and towards the use of renewable energy and excess heat as an integrated part of the energy mix. In general, Denmark is focusing on a far more effective use of resources – among other things through optimising our energy efficiency in buildings, industry and transport. Therefore, it is also the ambition that different energy sectors are linked together, so that electricity, heat, cooling, transport and production of renewable fuels will be much more connected in the future. District energy plays a major role in the energy transition, as it can tie the future energy system together in an effective way by utilising both fluctuating renewable energy sources such as wind and solar; surplus heat from industry; data centres and production of fuels (Power-to- X). One of the means to achieve this transition is an extensive use of data that is increasingly provided by the district energy companies across the value chain and in the processes that constitute the basis of efficient district energy operation. We hope this catalogue will serve as an inspiration. Jesper Koch Chief of Analytics, Grøn Energi Finn Mortensen Director, State of Green
CASE CATALOGUE, 2023
Digitalisation of the Danish District Heating Sector
Get inspired by 18 cases of digitalisation and data-driven operations from Denmark’s district heating sector
COLOPHON
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
Contents
DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
Get inspired by 18 cases of digitalization and data-driven operations from Denmark’s district heating sector
June 2023
ORIGINAL VERSION
Introduction
4
Inspirationskatalog: Digitalisering og datadreven drift i danske fjernvarmeselskaber (2023)
About the catalogue
6
TRANSLATED BY
Global Denmark A/S
Why digitalisation?
7 7 7 8 8 9
Digitalisation makes financial sense
EDITORS
Sharing consumption data across utilities sectors
State of Green
Overview
PARTNERS
Digitalisation throughout the value chain
Danish District Heating Association (DDHA) Danish Board of District Heating (DBDH) Grøn Energi
Categories of cases
Cases of inspiration
11 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46
DESIGN
1. Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk a.m.b.a.
B14
2. TREFOR 3. HOFOR
PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
4. Løkken Varmeværk a.m.b.a.
Copyright of case photos belong to the respective companies. Illustrations are only for visual examples. Data may be outdated.
5. NFS Varme
6. Næstved Fjernvarme 7. Aars Fjernvarme a.m.b.a. 8. Støvring Kraftvarmeværk
DOWNLOAD THIS CASE CATALOGUE
Download this publication and other whitepapers at stateofgreen.com/publications
9. Aalestrup-Nørager Energi a.m.b.a. 10. Ølgod Fjernvarmeselskab a.m.b.a.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To order copies of this case catalogue or receive more information about other related publications, please contact State of Green at info@stateofgreen.com
11. Assens Fjernvarme
12. Fjernvarmecentralen Avedøre Holme
13. DIN Forsyning
© Copyright State of Green (2023)
14. Middelfart Fjernvarme 15. Brønderslev Fjernvarme
Funded by the European Union
16. TVIS
17. Sønderborg Varme
18. BEOF
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
Introduction
FOREWORDS
Denmark is heading towards a transformation of the energy system. Away from fossil fuels and towards the use of renewable energy and excess heat as an integrated part of the energy mix. In general, Denmark is focusing on a far more effective use of resources – among other things through optimising our energy efficiency in buildings, industry and transport. Therefore, it is also the ambition that different energy sectors are linked together, so that electricity, heat, cooling, transport and production of renewable fuels will be much more connected in the future. District energy plays a major role in the energy transition, as it can tie the future energy system together in an effective way by utilising both fluctuating renewable energy sources such as wind and solar; surplus heat from industry; data centres and production of fuels (Power-to- X). One of the means to achieve this transition is an extensive use of data that is increas- ingly provided by the district energy companies across the value chain and in the processes that constitute the basis of efficient district energy operation.
We hope this catalogue will serve as an inspiration.
Jesper Koch Chief of Analytics, Grøn Energi
Finn Mortensen Director, State of Green
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
About the catalogue
Why digitalisation?
BY DANISH DISTRICT HEATING ASSOCIATION (DDHA)
Digitalisation makes financial sense District heating companies can utilise data from remotely read heat metres for temperature optimisation, thereby reducing both network losses and consumer prices by 5-10 percent. Companies can also minimise the investment re- quired to convert gas customers to district heating, because the use of remotely read data can provide a 5-10 percent better utilisation of the existing distribution system and installations. Today, more than 60 percent of district heating companies in Denmark use hourly or daily data from settlement metres in their operations, even though they are only required to read metres once a month. Most district heating companies can share this high resolution data with their customers without additional costs.
In recent years, the Danish District Heating Association (DDHA) has been focusing particularly on the digitalisation increasingly used by district heating companies. Through workshops and surveys of its members' digitalisation and use of data, DDHA can conclude that more than two-thirds of the industry are well on the way with the transition. The aim of the projects is typically to utilise remotely read heat meters – not just for invoicing, but also to optimise operations and administration for better customer service.
Potential savings just from temperature optimisation in all Danish district heating networks are estimated at € 90 - 110 million annually. The Future District Heating in the Greater Copenhagen Area in year 2050 (FFH50) report assesses the value of low-temperature district heating to be € 33,5 million annually. There are also benefits from optimising buildings' energy consumption and interaction with the district heating sys- tem as well as more efficient administration.
Data-driven operations can: • Accelerate the green transition and sector coupling through effective integration of renewable energy and PtX • Utilise existing production and distribution capacity in connection with conversions from gas • Reduce heat loss and required pump performance in distribution networks • Integrate the heat capacity of buildings to reduce the need for peak load during morning hours • Perform condition-based maintenance • Free up administrative resources for increased custom- er service • Contribute to innovation and development of new digital services With this catalogue of inspiration, the aim is to present the current status of the industry in Denmark. The catalogue also aims to contribute to the development of a joint utilities data programme across electricity, water, heating, waste- water, etc. Not only in Denmark, but also inspire globally and drive digitalisation and use of data and digital solutions from Denmark across the borders. This will bring data from district heating into play in the best possible way in terms of the green transition and sector coupling in the Danish energy sector in general.
There are plenty of examples of how this is done in practice, and this catalogue of inspiration presents some of them.
Big potential for savings A conservative estimate is that increased use of data for the district heating sector has a saving potential of approximately € 134 million annually.
At DDHA, we believe that, within just a few years, more than 70 percent of our members will procure and utilise high resolution data. This means that district heating companies can contribute significantly to the green transition, not least by converting natural gas customers to district heating.
Sharing consumption data across utilities sectors In recent years, the desire for access to consumption data has increased significantly, both for customers with large buildings with high energy consumption – e.g. the central government, municipalities, housing associations and the business sector – and for companies offering energy optimi- sation for this type of building.
DDHA is ready to make data available for innovation and development of new effective solutions, and this is con- firmed in some of the cases in this catalogue. Many district heating companies have already entered into agreements on sharing data and participating in development projects. However, there is a requirement for solutions that protect citizen data and business data as well as digital systems against cyber attacks. In 2022, the Danish government presented a new digital strategy to help increase digitalisation in Denmark. Among other things, the new strategy focuses on the green transi- tion and cyber security. The new digital strategy will establish a utilities data pro- gram to drive developments towards a cohesive green util- ities sector that better utilises resources and infrastructure across value chains and different utilities. The strategy has been allocated approximately € 2 million from 2023 to 2026, a total of approximately € 8 million.
The approach DDHA includes members' experience and opinions regarding digitalisation, data-driven operations and sharing of data across sectors when dealing with authorities and other industry associations.
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
Overview
Digitalisation throughout the value chain The catalogue is structured so that it includes projects from the entire value chain from procurement and production over distribution to consumption and customers.
Categories of cases
The projects are spread over several processes, where da- ta-driven operations help optimise administration, planning, operations, maintenance and investment.
FIND EXAMPLES OF CASES IN THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES HERE
Company
Page
Procurement
Production
Distribution
Consumption
EXAMPLES OF DIGITALISATION AND DATA-DRIVEN OPERATIONS
Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk
TREFOR
Value chain
Procurement
Production
Distribution
Consumption
HOFOR
Process
Løkken Varmeværk
Administration
Supplier management
Project management and follow-up
Project management and follow-up
Handling customers convert- ing to district heating and new customers
NFS Varme
Næstved Fjernvarme
Operations
Electricity market registration Electricity market optimisation Temperature optimisation by- pass and sectioning
Peak shaving energy optimisa- tion cooling
Aars Fjernvarme
Støvring Kraftvarmeværk
Maintenance
Sourcing spare parts
Condition-based maintenance Condition-based maintenance District heating units
Aalestrup-Nørager Energi
Ølgod Fjernvarmeselskab
Planning
Utilisation of surplus heat fuel procurement and sourcing
Audit planning long-term-fore- casts reports to the authorities
Renovation of service pipes
Budgeting heating price forecasts
Assens Fjernvarme
Fjernvarmecentralen Avedøre Holme
Investment
Establishment of heat pumps and other installations
Network extensions
Gas conversions subscription schemes
DIN Forsyning
Middelfart Fjernvarme
Brønderslev Fjernvarme
TVIS
Sønderborg Varme
BEOF
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
Cases of inspiration This case catalogue contains 18 different cases on digitalisation of the Danish district heating sector all across Denmark. Below is a geographic overview:
BRØNDERSLEV FJERNVARME , PAGE 40–41 LØKKEN VARMEVÆRK , PAGE 18–19
STØVRING KRAFTVARMEVÆRK , PAGE 26–27 AARS FJERNVARME , PAGE 24–25
AALESTRUP-NØRAGER ENERGI , PAGE 28–29
RINGKØBING FJERNVARMEVÆRK , PAGE 12–13
ØLGOD FJERNVARMESELSKAB , PAGE 30–31
HOFOR , PAGE 16–17
TVIS , PAGE 42–43
FJERNVARMECENTRALEN AVEDØRE HOLME , PAGE 34–35
MIDDELFART FJERNVARME , PAGE 38–39
DIN FORSYNING , PAGE 36–37
TREFOR , PAGE 14–15
ASSENS FJERNVARME , PAGE 32–33
NFS VARME , PAGE 20–21
NÆSTVED FJERNVARME , PAGE 22–23
BEOF , PAGE 46–47
SØNDERBORG VARME , PAGE 44–45
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“WITH ENERGYTRADE, WE CAN PLAN PRODUCTION, WHILE ENERGYPRO HELPS US WITH ANALYSES. BUT THE COMPUTER DOESN’T HAVE A SIXTH SENSE. IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE PROGRAM'S PROPOSAL IF YOU SENSE THAT REGULATION IS ON THE WAY.”
MARTIN HALKJÆR KRISTENSEN, CEO, RINGKØBING FJERNVARMEVÆRK
RINGKØBING DISTRICT HEATING
Regulating power price, Down Regulating power price, Up Heat consumption Spot price
Solar Collector
Storage Capacity Storage Content
El-boilers Heat Pump Gas Engine
Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk a.m.b.a Use of Decision Support Tool to Optimise Electricity and Heat Production CASE 1
Time
Challenge Shifts at Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk are divided between five people, each with a one-week shift, i.e. there are four weeks break between each shift. In order to establish a clear framework to plan operations, it was decided to procure the decision support tool: ener- gyTRADE. The energyPRO system was procured for budget- ing and analyses for the future. Solution Using weather, energy price and consumption forecasts, the energyTRADE system proposes a production plan, whereby the production equipment produces the cheapest heat at a given point in time. Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk also uses the energyPRO system to budget and to analyse whether it would be a good investment to build new equipment in the future. Results A digital twin of the production equipment is made in EnergyTRADE. Automatic actions are set up to retrieve
weather, energy price and heat consumption forecasts. The model optimises operation of the production equipment, so that district heating is produced at the cheapest possible price based on the forecasts. The system can automatically register the production plan for the production balance re- sponsible (PBA) - the company responsible for the delivered electricity production - if you trust the program enough. EnergyPRO works with statistical data. This could be aver- age data for the entire industry, or own historical data, used directly or in corrected form to reflect the future you believe in. Perhaps you expect the fuel price or heat consumption to change, and in this way the system can provide its best bid on how best to use the plant's production equipment to get the most out of it, and the effect on finances. For Ringkøbing Fjernvarme, this has resulted in easier and more uniform planning of day-to-day operations. The plant personnel can relatively quickly analyse the financial effect of large fluctuations in the market.
Time
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
4.781 Kongevejen 19, 6950 Ringkøbing rfv@rfv.dk +45 97 32 32 44
Ringkøbing Fjernvarmeværk a.m.b.a EMD International A/S 8 100 GWh
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE PERFORMS FAR BETTER IN TERMS OF OPERATING HOURS THAN THE OLD SYSTEM, WHERE THE DISTRICT HEATING COMPANY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SERVER OPERATION. DUE TO THE HIGH UPTIME, THE SYSTEM CONTRIBUTES TO MORE STABLE OPERATION OF THE HEATING STATION.”
FREDERIK STJERNHOLM BUSK, ENGINEER, TREFOR
DIAGRAM OF THE SCADA INSTALLATION
AI - Data from ENFOR returned to Science Cloud/SCADA – Supply temperature [C] –
AA - Data from ENFOR returned to Science Cloud/ENFOR Heat output (MW) Supply temperature (C) Return temperature (C) Return Temperature (C) Flow (M3/h)
District heating server
AA
API
API
Integration Platform
Science cloud
AI
PLC
– (24 data taps) – Alivecounter
TREFOR Temperature optimisation through cloud solution CASE 2
Requirements: – Frequency of max. 5 min – Two-way communication
Novotek
EWII IT (specialist)
CDK
ENFOR
TRFOR Varme
AA - Flow tags
AI - Return tags
Internal
The above communication diagram shows the type of data to be exchanged between the SCADA installation (district heating server) and the company ENFOR that supplies tem- perature optimisation software. The system works in a way, where TREFOR Varme's district heating server sends data to Science Cloud (hosted by Center Denmark) that forwards the data to ENFOR. ENFOR then uses the data to calculate an optimal supply temper- ature from the station and returns the results to Science Cloud. Science Cloud then forwards the results to TREFOR Varme's district heating server.
The largest barrier in the project was to ensure IT security across many suppliers and systems. At TREFOR, which is part of a multi-utilities company, IT security is the no. 1 priority in developing technical solutions. Therefore, it is important to include your IT security officers from the very beginning; otherwise, the project may have to be postponed for several months. The system offers several benefits. Heat loss is expected to be reduced by 2 percent if the trend for temperature optimi- sation (TSO) operations in spring 2022 continues compared with TSO operations from the old system. A positive spill-over effect of this project is a reduction of internal resources to manage TSO operations. This is pri- marily because the old TSO solution was placed on internal servers, and we were therefore responsible for maintaining and operating the server ourselves. Furthermore, it was more difficult for the supplier of the system to access the server, because it was connected to the production environment.
Challenge TREFOR Varme is obligated to operate the district heating system in the best possible way. This requires automat- ed tools that can contribute to operations optimisation, including temperature optimisation, in which integration between production environment and external suppliers is a necessity. Through the R&D project HEAT 4.0, TREFOR wanted to in- tegrate the production environment with a cloud solution to create a platform that can use tools from different suppliers without having to invest in more integration solutions. Solution The Heat 4.0 R&D project aims to develop intelligent soft- ware solutions that can make district heating more efficient, and throughout the project, TREFOR Varme has focused on the following data-driven tracks: • Efficiency improvements focusing on reducing trans mission losses. • Heat production and production planning focusing on utilising the possibilities in reduced supply and return temperatures. • Plug and play-software focusing on developing a cloud- based algorithm to enable simple and secure massive data exchange between various IT systems.
The case was established with outset in TREFOR Varme's need for temperature optimisation and the three focus areas above. The aim of the case was to integrate a SCADA system with a cloud solution to be able to receive data for temperature optimisation via data exchange with an external supplier through the cloud solution. Results After establishing the functional needs, a meeting was held with every conceivable supplier of the applications/systems expected to be part of the solution. The suppliers, including TREFOR Varme's own IT department, focused on securing the following needs: 1. IT security – IT security must be in place when opening communication between the production environment and a cloud solution. 2. Uptime – The system as a whole should have high uptime. The system should not require much support/ maintenance for the district heating company. In collaboration with suppliers, TREFOR outlined a commu- nication diagram for the case. The diagram shows the needs (data flow) and the applications/suppliers involved with each area of responsibility.
These results are used to control setpoints in the SCADA installation.
The IT department in TREFOR requires an integration platform between the district heating server and Science Cloud that can validate data sent from outside and ensure that no unauthorised people have access to our production environment.
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
30.357 Kokbjerg 30, 6000 Kolding, Denmark trefor@trefor.dk +45 70 21 11 00
TREFOR NIRAS & ENFOR 14 714 GWh
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“AS A DISTRICT HEATING COMPANY, HOFOR CONSIDERS DISTRICT HEATING FLEXUMERS AS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS REDU CING PEAK-LOAD PRODUCTION AND CREATING ACCESS TO MORE RENEWABLES-BASED HEAT GENERATORS.”
KRISTIAN HONORÉ, ENERGY PLANNER, HOFOR
The graphs show how the peak load period is moved by heating the building before the peak load occurs.
AVERAGE DAILY POWER PROFILES, LOAD SHIFTING ON AND OFF
Load shisting OFF 2021
Load shisting ON 2022
Change compared to last year, %
HOFOR District Heating Flexumers in Copenhagen CASE 3
Hourofthedayweekdaysonly
HOURLY AVERAGE POWER, ALL
Power, Pre LH (from 2021-1-1 until 2021-5-3)
Power, Pre LH (from 2022-2-24)
Challenge Together with HOFOR and Københavns Ejendomme og Indkøb (KEID), Danfoss is exploring the potential for optimis- ing the CO 2 -neutral baseload production in Copenhagen by utilising AI-based heat control from its Leonheat AI system. The first part of the demonstration took place in the 2021- 2022 heating season and covered 29 municipal buildings (primarily day-care centres and schools). The primary objective of the demonstration is to reduce the peak heat consumption in the mornings (from 6 am to 10 am) by making consumption more flexible.
Results The initial results of the project show that the average morn- ing peak load fell by 14 percent at building level, and at the end of the second part of the demonstration in the upcoming heating season, it is expected to be able to determine what this means at system level. The connected buildings also slightly reduced their heat energy consumption because of compensation from solar energy forecast by the Leanheat AI. Based on the overall results of the demonstration, it will be possible to quantify the overall financial and environmental benefits. Looking at the total heating consumption on an hourly basis as an average per building, the peak output fell from 27.5 kW/ building to 21.5 kW/building (-22 percent). The calculation was made by comparing the highest peak during peak load displacement with the highest measured peak last year under the same outdoor conditions. Any obvi- ous outliers were ignored in the analysis.
35
30
Peak power before Leanheat: 27,5 kW/building
25
Peak power in Leanheat control: 21,5 kW/building
20
15
10
5
Therefore, the project has been called District Heating Flexumers.
0
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
Outdoor temperature (ºC)
Solution The Danfoss Leanheat AI learns how the buildings behave and utilises the thermal flexibility of buildings (the ability to store heat in the building stock over a period) to reduce peak loads. During the morning peak period, the Leanheat AI diverts the heat stored in the buildings by reducing the heat input by up to 20 percent, whereupon it is recharged before the next morning.
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
35.000 Ørestads Boulevard 35, 2300 København S
HOFOR Danfoss Leonheat 1.500 4.400 GWh
hofor@hofor.dk +45 33 95 33 95
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“I THINK THAT HEAT INTELLIGENCE IS A GOOD TOOL. PARTICULAR LY THE COMBINATION OF THE REMOTE READING MODULE READY WITH HEAT INTELLIGENCE PROVIDES A LOT OF INSIGHT – REGARD LESS OF WHETHER I RETRIEVE DATA FOR TROUBLESHOOTING, LEAK DETECTION OR MAINTENANCE.”
CLAUS CHRISTENSEN, OPERATIONS MANAGER, LØKKEN VARMEVÆRK A.M.B.A.
is completely different from the annual snapshot generated by the modelling tool they used to have. Today, Heat Intelli- gence is fully available online 365 days a year, and he can go back, look into a specific development and learn from it. This is a huge gain. After a short period with the new solution, Løkken Fjern- varme has achieved tangible results by optimising the dis- tribution network. Among other things, the district heating company has succeeded in lowering the average pressure from 1.2 to 0.7 bar and to around 1 bar in peak periods. This has resulted in annual savings of € 2.000-3000 for the district heating company. They also use Heat Intelligence to look at behaviour in terms of when the energy has to be accumulated in the network in the mornings. They used to work on the basis of assumptions, but now they have a tool for the task.
Moreover, Løkken Fjernvarme has used Heat Intelligence to achieve a more balanced flow in the two main pipes. Al- though the town has grown, the district heating company set the valves in the network as they always had, but new knowl- edge about the number of cubic metres flowing around the system revealed that some valves had been set incorrectly. After implementing Heat Intelligence, it became clear that the load on the distribution system was extremely uneven. The load distribution used to be 80/20, but now it is 50/50. This has resulted in less wear and stress on the pipelines, and in a significantly lower pressure. Consequently, the company now uses less energy and less money on pumping water in the system.
Løkken Varmeværk a.m.b.a. Use of Online Data for Condition- Based Renovation CASE 4
BENEFITS FOR LØKKEN
Challenge Approximately one in four homes in the supply area around Løkken, Denmark is a holiday home, and this share is increasing. This places high demands on keeping the pipe- lines warm as opposed to all-year houses with a constant baseload. Moreover, rental houses have greater demands for useful metre readings, because it can take a while to discover possible damaged metres. In 2016, Løkken Fjernvarme began to dig up the oldest pipe- lines in the distribution system and found that many of them were in a good condition. The replacement, which was part of a long-term renovation plan, was therefore paused after a couple of years until the data basis for carrying out condi- tion-based renovation was in place. In connection with replacing settlement metres, it was de- cided to move from drive by to an aerial solution, so that data from the metres could be used for analyses, etc. Solution Løkken Fjernvarme has combined new metres from Kam- strup with the visualisation tool Heat Intelligence, which is
Kamstrup's analysis platform that combines facts about the pipelines in the network with data from the remotely read metres. This provides a good basis for optimising the district heating network. The solution was implemented in less than one year to support the use of a motivation tariff and to ensure a quick return on the investment. Results Network reading, new readers and new analysis software have contributed to lower pressure in the network, effi- cient leak detection and optimised renovation of pipelines, because the district heating company now has the right decision basis. The annual software licence is quickly paid for by the opti- misations and savings made because the district heating company uses Heat Intelligence. Previously 5 percent of the operator's time was spent on meter reading.
Lowering of average
Annual savings of DKK 20,000 on lower pump
More balanced distribution of the flow in the
Possibility of condition-based renovation
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
1.225 Industrivej 18, 9480 Løkken, Denmark info@loekenvarmevaerk.dk +45 98 99 12 29
LØKKEN VARMEVÆRK A.M.B.A Kamstrup 3.5 24 GWh
This time can now be spent on more value-creating tasks. The district heating company's new decision-making basis
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“IT'S NOT EASY TO DIGITALISE A DISTRICT HEATING COMPANY'S DATA. IT TAKES TIME, AND REQUIRES A LOT OF EFFORT. ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU GATHER A CORPUS OF DATA THAT YOU CAN UTILISE IN THE FUTURE.”
JIMMY JØRGENSEN, HEAD OF HEATING, NYBORG FORSYNING
Data future-proofs the district heating company Even though digitalisation of NFS Varme's reporting has not saved time, Jimmy Jørgensen still considers the new way of processing data an important step for the district heating company. Not least because they have now started on their digitalisation journey, and they can begin to explore what opportunities the future holds. “Digitalisation is also about finding out what computers are good at, and what people are good at. And then it's just a matter of laying the interfaces in the right places," he says. The digital interface in processing the company's key figures has turned out to be one of the 'right places' that Jimmy Jørgensen is talking about. Company figures are now much more visible, because updated figures are available once a month at the click of a button.
“It has become much easier to keep track of production fig- ures and compare them with previous months. In short, we retrieve our reports once a month and are confronted with reality," says Jimmy Jørgensen and continues: “This will protect us in the future in that we can keep track of our meter data and store everything in one database. It makes good sense to register your data so that it can be used in the future – for example to plan conversion projects. Eventually the various readings will merge, providing a smooth transition, in which the solution increasingly be- comes a management tool.”
NFS VARME From Manual to Digital Data Processing CASE 5
MONTHLY REPORT, FEBRUARY 2022 – 1 MARCH 2022
Challenge NFS Varme in Nyborg has replaced manual data processing and reporting with a digital solution in the form of a SCADA database. The database collects key figures for the utility company and the figures are then used to draw up account- ing and operations reports. The solution has not necessarily lightened the workload for the district heating company. Instead the company has an important management tool that brings financial and production data into play in completely new ways. Solution With a wish to release time in the administration, NFS Varme chose to digitalise the company's data processing. Previously, budget follow-up, monthly reports and annual readings were carried out in spreadsheets, which was very time-consuming. The utility company therefore decided to install new remote- ly read metres and implement a SCADA database to gather all financial and production data in one place. The database was supplemented by the reporting system ReportPlus from Novotek, which gathers the key figures for the district heating company and draws up reports on the basis of the figures. The aim of all this was to streamline payments to suppliers, monthly and annual tax returns, as well as calcula- tion of surplus heat tax.
Results Jimmy Jørgensen, Head of Heating at NFS Varme, is uncer- tain whether this actually made reporting and data process- ing easier. However, the utility company has clearly benefit- ed in other ways: "When you start digitalising the reporting process, you might expect that the main advantage is that you can prepare a report quickly and easily. But for us, the real advantage has been that we've been forced to keep much better track of our data. We have streamlined our reporting and become much more disciplined in our data registration," he says and continues: "This is a new way of doing things. But we can't get away from the fact that it takes time and resources. You can't sud- denly do without three employees, but it optimises the com- pany in other ways. This is particularly relevant today, with the enormous focus on reporting and increasing demands to submit figures to the authorities. Specifically, NFS Varme has optimised calculation of tax refunds for stand by heat. NFS Varme has been able to run this calculation process monthly. Overall, Jimmy Jørgensen says that the link between production figures and account- ing figures has become closer, and this has resulted in much better accounting follow-up.
VAT deduction
Standstill heat
Unit price
Mineral oil
94.578
15.7836
1,492.78
Surplus heat
94.578
0.0000
0.00
Oil & liquefied petroleum gas tax
1,492.78
Waste heat
94.578
78.8085
7,075.24
Coal tax
7,075.24
Natural gas
94.578
0.0000
0.00
Natural & town gas tax
0.00
Excise duty
Heat produced from oil
Unit price
DKK
NO X tax on bio oil
275.900
0.3000
297.97
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
8.500 Gasværksvej 2, 5800 Nyborg, Denmark nfs@nfs.dk +45 63 31 50 00
Nyborg Forsyning Novotek 8 168 GWh
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“WE'RE VERY PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS, AND WE HAVE A CLEAR AMBITION TO CONTINUE THIS WORK BY VISITING CUSTOM ERS WITH POOR COOLING AND BY OPTIMISING SUPPLY TEMPERA TURES IN THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.”
JENS ANDERSEN, CEO, NÆSTVED FJERNVARME
which is a total reduction of 11.6 degrees Celsius corre- sponding to 13.6 percent. The average return temperature at the outlet from the distribution system in the same period fell from 48 degrees Celsius to 43.9 degrees Celsius, corre- sponding to 8.4 percent. The same trend is seen for temper- atures at customers, as illustrated in the graph below. More than 300 new district heating units were installed during the project period. This has led to energy savings, and lowering the return temperature has also improved the effi- ciency of the heat pump installed at Næstved Fjernvarme's waste incineration plant. This means that it is now possible to produce approx. 800 MWh (2.880 GJ) more a year. Total energy savings are thus 4.936 MWh (17.769 GJ), and with a heating price of DKK 518/MWh including VAT, this means that total annual savings for customers are DKK 2.6
million. Furthermore, customers have saved DKK 1.4 million including VAT in incentive tariffs.
Næstved Fjernvarme Reduction of Energy Consumption in Næstved CASE 6
Overall, customers in Næstved have saved around DKK 4 million including VAT – every year. Næstved Fjernvarme emits 0.127 tonnes of CO 2 per MWh, and therefore total saved CO 2 emissions amount to 627 tonnes. Laying out a district heating distribution system in a new area would cost approx. DKK 110,000 per building. Total energy savings in the project were calculated as standard consumption for 227 buildings. This means that 227 buildings can be connected without up- grading the existing distribution system. With some caution, it can therefore be assumed that DKK 25 million were saved by not investing in a new distribution system.
Challenge In 2017, Næstved Fjernvarme entered into a partnership agreement with the project owner Næstved Municipality in the southern part of Denmark. The purpose of the partner- ship agreement was to improve energy efficiency in build- ings with district heating, minimise energy loss in the district heating system and ensure greater efficiency from the heat pump at AffaldPlus, an inter-municipal waste management company located in the south of Zealand, Denmark. Solution District heating systems set the pressure and temperature based on the needs of the customer in the worst position to ensure that all buildings receive the necessary heat/ energy. It is important for energy efficiency that the return temperature from a building is as low as possible, and thus the district heating water is cooled as much as possible. This means that the energy content of the water is supplied to the building and used in it. Improving cooling provides several benefits, such as less energy loss in the distribution system and at the individual customer, increased capacity in district heating pipes/sys- tem and greater energy efficiency in the heat pump installa- tion. All district heating customers at Næstved Fjernvarme have heat metres from Kamstrup, submitting data every hour to the central database. The use of data has meant that customers with poor energy utilisation were selected via a metering system on a daily basis.
utilisation/highest return temperatures were contacted to arrange a visit.
After each visit, the customers were given a report with a description of defects and deficiencies in the customer's district heating system. Results A total of 1,221 visits were made during the project period, and some customers received more than one visit. The defects and deficiencies observed were:
COMPARISON OF THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE SETTING PER BUILDING
2017
2020
78
68
58
•
Defective valves/controls
• Limescaled/soiled hot-water tanks/domestic water exchangers • Incorrectly set or defective installations • Summer valve (operation error) • Under-dimensioned radiators/underfloor heating
48
38
28
The visits showed that the usual cause of poor cooling is a defective district heating system.
18
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
Among other things, Næstved Fjernvarme has introduced an incentive tariff to give customers a financial incentive to repair defective systems. The new tariff increases the var- iable tariff by 1 percent per degree Celsius when the return temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius. The results of the project are illustrated by the temperature settings for 2017 (reference year prior to project start) and 2020. The average supply temperature at the inlet to the distribution system has been lowered from 85.3 degrees Celsius in the reference year to 73.7 degrees Celsius in 2020,
Supply temperature
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
5.400 Maglemølle 62, 4700 Næstved, Denmark info@naestvedfjernvarme.dk +45 55 72 56 65
Næstved Fjernvarme a.m.b.a Kamstrup 19 1.04 GWh
On the basis of this data, customers with the poorest energy
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“WHEN PRIORITISING WHICH AREAS TO RENOVATE, WE NOW PRI MARILY USE ANALYSES FROM HEAT INTELLIGENCE REGARDING HEAT LOSS AND/OR LACK OF HEAT SUPPLY.”
KASPER NEVE, ENGINEER, AARS FJERNVARME
company can also find places where it may be necessary to establish a temporary branch pipe due to lack of demand.
varme has spent a lot of time removing teething troubles from the system and gearing the system for larger supplies.
As Aars Fjernvarme optimises the network, the supply temperature can be lowered even more, and this will reduce transmission losses. Aars Fjernvarme is continuously working to lower consumers' return temperature, as this will directly reduce heat loss from the return pipes and increase their energy production at the waste incineration plant, which includes flue gas condensation. The return temperature is important for the efficiency of flue gas condensation. This directly affects the company's operating budget. Besides lower supply and return temperatures, Aars Fjern- varme also achieved a better understanding of the hydrau- lics of the distribution system. It has become much easier to ensure supplies of the temperatures customers want.
There are still challenges, but hopefully they will be resolved in the long term.
The orange line in the diagram shows the number of MWh lost in the distribution system per year, and the columns show the number of consumers connected to the distribu- tion system. The grey line shows the increasing number of metres of pipes necessary to connect more consumers. The result of Heat Intelligence is basically that Aars Fjern- varme can reduce transmission losses by approx. 1,500 MWh/year even though it continues to connect around 100 more consumers a year and is expanding the network by several kilometres every year. The figures in the graph show 2,788 MWh, but the graph includes another project completed by Aars Fjernvarme that has reduced transmission losses by a further almost 1,300 MWh.
Aars Fjernvarme a.m.b.a. Data-Driven Operations and Renovation CASE 7
Teaching Kamstrup's organisation how district heating companies think and work has been challenging. Aars Fjern-
Challenge Until recently, Aars Fjernvarme primarily used data for invoicing, but it seemed obvious to use the data collected on supply and return temperatures and flow to be able to look more closely at the condition of the distribution system – all the way to the end-users. Combining two types of data sources makes it possible to generate new insight into the distribution system. The dis- trict heating company provides GIS data about the distribu- tion system and meter data, e.g. from Kamstrup or Diehl, to Heat Intelligence, which then translates the data into a digi- tal twin of the distribution system named Heat Intelligence.
In Heat Intelligence, temperature and flow data are coupled with GIS data on the distribution system. GIS data includes pipe lengths, pipe diameters, degree of insulation and age of pipes. This is a commercial product, and Aars Fjernvarme has served as a close sparring partner in ongoing development of the system. Results Aars Fjernvarme has gained completely new insight into their network. Temperatures can be monitored to and from each customer, and this data can be linked to the flow in each service pipe and compared with the length, dimen- sions, insulation and age of the pipes.
/ / / / / / / /
The model can be accessed online and used directly to optimise operation of the distribution system.
This is valuable knowledge when monitoring the condition of the network and planning renovations and replacements.
INFORMATION
Solution The idea came from Kamstrup, based on conversations with customers. A need to use the meter data for other and more purposes than invoicing consumers was identified. The company needed an optimisation tool.
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
5.647 Dybvad Møllevej 1, 9600 Aars, Denmark
Aars Fjernvarme a.m.b.a Kamstrup 12 110 GWh
Aars Fjernvarme can now identify problems related to excessive heat loss much more quickly and better assess which branch pipes are expendable. The district heating
info@aarsfjv.dk +45 99 98 80 70
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“WE CAN NOW ANALYSE THE RETURN TEMPERATURE FOR EACH HOUSEHOLD AND HELP CONSUMERS IMPROVE THEIR HEATING HABITS. WE’VE INSTALLED LEAKAGE ALARMS IN CONSUMER METERS, WHICH MEANS WE CAN RESOLVE PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY BECOME SERIOUS.”
CLAUS HAPARANDA, OPERATIONS MANAGER, STØVRING KRAFTVARMEVÆRK
can now quickly discover any irregularities such as broken heat exchangers, adverse settings on a meter, or inappro- priate consumer behaviour (e.g. using only a few radiators at maximum settings). By helping consumers become aware of defective instal- lations, for example, and/or inappropriate heating habits, Støvring Kraftvarmeværk has been able to reduce the return temperature.
Thanks to the analysis functions in the IZAR software, the return temperature of each household can be analysed and consumers can receive tailored guidance to help them improve their heating habits. The solution not only provides significant financial savings, it also makes it possible to increase transparency by providing additional services such as access to a web portal or app that lets customers check their daily data, including con- sumption and temperatures.
Støvring Kraftvarmeværk Temperature Optimisation and Localisation Of Faults In Customer Installations CASE 8
Challenge Støvring Kraftvarmeværk wanted to save time and reduce costs by optimising the meter-reading process.
now a thing of the past. Consumption data is automatically transferred to the invoicing system, and the entire process is faster, easier and less prone to errors. High-resolution data and alarm notifications from the SHARKY 775 meters is analysed by IZAR PLUS Portal Meter Data Management software. An alarm notification is sent directly to Støvring Kraftvar- meværk if a pipe bursts or a leak is detected. This makes it possible for the plant to intervene immediately and to prevent additional water losses from causing damage to consumers’ homes. Results Once the project was launched, many leakages were discovered at consumer households. These leakages have now been fixed. Støvring Kraftvarmeværk now provides an additional service with leakage alarms for consumers.
Prior to the project, Støvring Kraftvarmeværk used the ‘post- card’ method to collect consumption data from heat meters.
Furthermore, the district heating plant was losing up to 15 m3 of water every day. The process being used at the time to collect consumption data was a resource-heavy manual process with many places where things could go wrong. The most important requirements were to localise and stop water losses faster, and to optimise supply and return tem- peratures to achieve a more sustainable energy supply and corresponding reductions in CO 2 emissions. Solution Støvring Kraftvarmeværk a.m.b.a now automatically receives remotely read data from SHARKY 775 meters, pro- vided by Diehl Metering. This means manual readings are
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
3.215 Hjedsbækvej 2, 9530 Støvring, Denmark kvv@stoevring-varme.dk +45 99 98 80 70
Støvring Kraftvarmeværk Diehl Metering 5 55 GWh
Ongoing data analysis also helped reduce losses in the dis- tribution system. The analysis tool in the IZAR PLUS Portal
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DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“THERE ARE HUGE FINANCIAL BENEFITS FROM MERGING A HEAT ING PLANT AND WATERWORKS. BOTH DURING THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE AND AFTER THE PLANT IS OPERATIONAL. REMEMBER TO DISCUSS EXPECTATIONS WITH THE SYSTEM SUPPLIER. AND MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOUR METER-READING SYSTEM SIMPLE.”
PALLE PEDERSEN, OPERATIONS MANAGER, AN ENERGI A.M.B.A
Solution Much of the hassle and expense of reading meters manually is related to accessing the property. The board therefore decided the time had come for a change, as the majority of batteries in existing heat meters were worn out. The board wanted processes to be technologically up to date after such an investment. They therefore settled on the manufacturer’s best two-flow heat meter, which made it possible also to monitor for any leakages in individual households. Results Aalestrup has now been using the new system for a while and is very happy with it. There is a huge potential in ex- ploiting the ability to read meters remotely, and there are constant new developments. As purchasing licences is relatively expensive, and as it requires many working hours to get the most out of the systems, not all options are currently relevant.
• Guidance on cooling, consumption, etc. has been made considerably easier since actual values can now be read. It is very helpful to be able to provide documented data, especially when consumers think their supply tempera- ture is too low. Alarm notifications from both water and heat meters in the event of water losses or water penetration are available. The alarm notifications are particularly helpful for water meters. Damaged heating installations seem to be rarer. The two flows have not quite met expectations, especially because only alarm notifications are recorded and not the associated flow on both flow meters. This can cause difficulty identify- ing the cause of the alarms. When Nørarger needs to repair main pipes, the company exploits their ability to identify the maximum consumption level, especially at large consumers/companies, where rules of thumb are less exact.
Nørarger corrects supply temperatures manually based on temperature measurements at consumer households.
AN Energi a.m.b.a Digitalisation of Water and Heating Consumption Data CASE 9
However, some of the benefits, achievable by most, are:
Budgetary follow up and accrual calculations have become much easier and less time consuming.
• Annual meter readings completed in just a few hours. Only a few meters need to be read manually, and this is done from a handheld terminal in the service vehicle. All readings from the plant and consumers are therefore done simultaneously, minimising administrative costs. • Readings when customers move house are also carried out on the precise date. • Consumers can keep track of their consumption and temperature levels daily on the company's website. • They can make graphs to assist in fault finding, particu- larly if they have purchased additional meters to log consumption at single-minute intervals.
There are also a large number of smaller fires that can be put out; fires that Nørarger had not predicted. This also means that, although cost reductions may not have been achieved, it has become possible to provide far better customer ser- vice using the same resources, and unnecessary call-outs have also been reduced.
Challenge In 2014, Aalestrup Varme and Aalestrup Vand entered into a contract with Kamstrup on a three-year project to replace all energy meters. Subsequently, the Aalestrup and AN Energi heating plants merged, and a similar system was quickly established at AN Energi in the northern part of Jutland, Denmark. The heating plant already had a ‘drive-by’ solution, and the waterworks used meters that remotely read data from con- sumers once a year.
We decided to ask local plumbing companies for estimates for meter replacement. The plumber was to change both the water and heat meter when he was at the house. The heating plant would also cover the cost of a quick service inspection by the plumber of the consumer’s installation. The plumbing company had three years to complete the project, which could be carried out when the company had free slots in its schedule.
INFORMATION
Meters Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
4.000 (both heath and water) Elmegaardsvej 6, 9620 Aalestrup, Denmark info@an-energi.dk +45 98 64 13 55
AN Energi a.m.b.a Kamstrup 6 54 GWh
The project could therefore be completed at a relatively low cost.
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