EBO Consult is working with various projects that aim to optimise or develop the district heating grid and technology. Here, we find out about two current examples of their projects in this in-depth energy focus
As a firm, we at EBO Consult continuously strive to optimise the district heating network. Let’s examine two of our projects, the first being Removing Heat Loss and the second, Renewable “Island” – Avedøre Green City.
Removing Heat Loss
Today, we are working on a specific project in a housing association, located in Hvidovre. The residents experienced that the snow above their district heating pipes melted, because of a high level of heat loss. Therefore, they contacted the district heating cooperative and EBO Consult. Many housing associations have their own internal district heating grid, which they are responsible for maintaining. They also have a large heating exchanger wherefrom the heating is transferred from the district heating cooperative grid to the local housing estate.
The EBO Consult staff arranged meetings with representatives from the estate and the housing association and focused on economy, communication with the residents (in 178 dwellings) and technical issues. After three months, everybody agreed to start a renovation project.
As a solution to the heat loss, we are replacing the large heating exchanger with smaller heating exchanger located in each housing bloc in the local housing estate. It follows that the heat transfer point is now closer to the consumers. As another solution to the heat loss, the existing district heating pipes are replaced with newer optimised pipes with a high level of insulation.
The project benefits the housing estate because they no longer have an internal district heating grid, which they are responsible for maintaining. We expect that the project will minimise the heat loss with 210 MWh per year. In euros, it is a saving of €21.156 per year.
The project also benefits the district heating cooperative, because of the heat loss minimisation. It makes the district heating grid more effective, which minimise the common costs of the grid. Lowering the common costs also benefits the district heating end users.
From the beginning of the communication with the representatives from the housing estate EBO Consult developed a new financial package which minimised the total costs for the project and the residents’ heat invoices.
The project costs are approximately €1 million.
The Renewable “Island” – Avedøre Green City
Avedøre Green City (AGC) is a project that revolves around a specific area in Avedøre. Avedøre with approximately 6,000 residents. AGC is situated in the municipality Hvidovre, a suburb of Copenhagen.
The project is a unique opportunity to design and implement the optimal interaction between energy producer and consumer. The purpose is to improve the energy efficiency in AGC with at least 30% in the most cost-effective way with combined energy-saving measures and improvements of the energy supply system.
The ambition of the project is to shift the focus from separately considering the energy efficiency in buildings and in the energy supply, to combine the two and look at the best interaction. The energy-saving measures in the buildings and the energy supply system will be further analysed and tested to be able to choose the most cost-effective energy and environmental improvements. Incidentally, the importance of comfort is calculated. An important step and a part of the decentralising strategy is creating a model in AGC with new internal distribution in housing estates, new sustainable energy production and more energy-efficient buildings. This means investments in a system with increased pipe insulation, heat pump supply, thermal solar energy supply, storage and interaction with district heating.
Different partners are involved in the project, i.e. Avedøre District Heating Cooperative, Avedøre Housing Association, Institutions in the areas (the high school, the municipality), Avedøre Lejren (a cooperative housing estate in a former military area), Filmbyen (film studio and local handcrafts men), and Avedøre Landsby (the local village).
Together, they have formed a steering committee wherefrom the ideas in the project originate, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Thus, the committee has identified 13 of the 17 UN Goals to be implemented in the project. In order to realise the project monetarily, the committee has chosen European Green Cities (EGC) to develop applications for different EU grants and the Danish EUDP (Energy, Development and Demonstration) grant. Several applications have successfully been approved. One of these applications has been to the EU grant called ELENA from the European Investment Bank.
EBO Consult participates in the project steering committee because we administer and operate Avedøre District Heating Cooperative. Our focus in the project is to optimise and develop the district heating system. We will work on electrification of the district heating system and low temperature – what experts call the road to fifth-generation district heating.
To work with a new generation of district heating, the existing district heating grid will be renovated. One of the largest projects in AGC is at Avedøre Housing Association. Their internal district heating grid and heating installations will be renovated. The same goes for the cooperative district heating grid. Beside from renovating the district heating grid, it is also important to look at the overall condition of the buildings, for example, the level of insulation, energy consumption, etc. Lastly, the district heating grid will be expanded to the parts of the “island” that do not have district heating today.
The total costs for the many activities in 2021-2024 are estimated at a level of €33.4 million.
Please note: This is a commercial profile
