DIGITALISATION OF THE DANISH DISTRICT HEATING SECTOR
CASE CATALOGUE 2023
“USING AN UNDERLYING ALGORITHM AND FORECAST MODEL BASED ON HISTORICAL DATA AND WEATHER FORECASTS, WE CAN CONTROL INSTALLATIONS AT CONSUMER HOUSEHOLDS DIRECT LY FROM THE PLANT. THIS CAN HELP US DETERMINE THE FUTURE HEATING DEMAND OF THE INDIVIDUAL CONSUMER.”
CHRISTIAN NYGAARD SØRENSEN, PROJECT DEVELOPER, BORNHOLMS ENERGI & FORSYNING
“The latest updated control configurations shows energy savings of 9 % on average in households with permanent residents. Although this control configuration has only been active since November 2022, we have been able to achieve up to 18 % energy savings in one singular case,” he adds. LONG-TERM GAINS The biggest benefit by far of the Flexibility Heat Grid Born- holm project for both the district heating company and the consumers has been the reduction in energy consumption and in the required amount of biomass. Thus, this joint effort contributes to the green transition. In the long term and presupposing a completely intelligently controlled district heating network, Bornholms Energi & Forsyning will have a foundation of high resolution data which will contribute to optimising all aspects of district heating on the island of Bornholm. “The Flexibility Heat Grid Bornholm project is a mere pilot project in which the main beneficiaries were clearly individual consumers as they were able to reduce their heating consumption on hosehold level,” Christian Nygaard Sørensen explains and adds: “With the positive project outcomes of 2022 our ambitions are raised, and we are looking into upscaling the project which will be expanded with an additional 300 participating households in 2023 - 2024.” The project has already provided Bornholms Energi & Forsyning with a lot of new knowledge about investing in intelligent control systems, and the imminent expansion of the project will provide an even more detailed data founda- tion for the company to benefit from in the future.
The same model can be used for data-driven investment planning.
However, heating consumption and energy utilisation at consumer level will make up the largest benefits in this project Christian Sørensen, Project Developer at Bornholms Energi & Forsyning explains: “An underlying algorithm and a forecast model based on historical data and wather predictions enable heating sys- tem controls at consumer households directly at the heating plant and thus ensure optimal flow temperatures. This helps determine the future heating demands of the individual consumer. Furthermore, the distribution system will contribute to mon- itoring temperatures and flows in household valves, which enables the utility company to alert the costumer and fix a possible malfunction in their installation if there is a sudden consumption increase or a lower temperature than expect- ed. Thus, not only will the consumer have the certainty that any faults in their installation will be discovered, they will also be able to easily monitor and manage their consump- tion by using an webapp.” Results From the very beginning the project set three clear goals: to increase energy efficiency in households, to reduce heat losses in the distribution system and to optimise heat production. The three goals contribute to the overall target which is reducing energy consumption and energy produc- tion, which in turn will lead to reduced heat loss and lower CO 2 emissions. “Project results already indicate potentially significant cost savings”, Christian Nygaard Sørensen says. However, cost savings depend on whether consumers are willing to adapt and let the systems take control of their heat units.
BEOF Intelligent Monitoring and Control Provide a Flexible and Optimised District Heating Network CASE 18
Challenge The future of district heating is digital and data-driven. This is the basis of the Flexibility Heat Grid Bornholm project, which involves 42 households in the small village of Listed, on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The island's utility company, Bornholm Energi & Forsyning (BEOF) wanted to improve energy efficiency, reduce heat losses in its distribution system and increase the efficiency of heat production. The company therefore decided to place an intelligent control system in the district heating instal- lations in households that voluntarily participated in the project. Listed was selected because it is the area farthest away from the district heating plant in Nexø, and the fact that the area also suffers from capacity issues under certain weather conditions.
This made Listed the perfect place to test the impact of the new control system on the capacity of the district heating network and thus determine the added value of intelligent control to the utility and it's consumers. Solution The Flexibility Heat Grid Bornholm project is a collabora- tion between the local district heating company, DTU - The Technical University of Denmark, Neogrid Technologies and Utiligize. At the start of 2022, the new gateway from Neogrid Tech- nologies was installed at the participating households, after which it then began to monitor and control their heating systems.
INFORMATION
Address Email Phone
Company Solution Providers Employees Heat
Skansevej 2, 3700 Rønne, Denmark kundeservice@beof.dk +45 56 90 00 00
Bornholms Energi og Forsyning Neogrid Technologies, Utiligize 130 1.266 GWh
Utiligize designed a model of the distribution system that en- ables monitoring temperatures and pressure in the system.
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