Comparison of Strategies for Thermal Storage Operation to Increase the Share of Renewable Energy in District Heating Systems

DOI

10.2991/ahe.k.210202.014How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cogeneration, District Heating, Renewable Heating, Sector Coupling, Thermal Storage Operation

Abstract

Combined heat and power (CHP) plants are the main supply source in Germany’s district heating systems (DHS). Usually the generated power is fed into the power grid. Because CHP plants normally come along with thermal storages the heat supply operation is flexible, so that the electricity production can be optimized, e.g. by producing at times with attractive in-feed tariffs. However, in the course of the necessary transformation of all energy systems, renewable energy sources are increasingly being integrated into existing infrastructures. DHS operators are also involved in the expansion of renewable heat, e.g. by implementing solar thermal plants or large-scale heat pumps. In order to increase the share of renewable energy in DHS, thermal storage operation becomes essentially important. On the one hand, as much renewable heat as possible should be used or stored and on the other hand, CHP plants must run and fill the storage if the recoverable amount from the electricity sector is economically justifiable. Both imply less free storage capacity, whereas the chronological harmonization of loading and unloading plays an important role. The contribution of this paper is an analysis on different operation strategies for thermal storages to increase the share of renewable energy in urban DHS. Furthermore, the influence of heat load prediction and electricity price forecasting on thermal storage operation is derived. Results of a comparison of typical storage operation methods on a use case show that under the current legal framework conditions a flexible thermal storage operation is eligible to meet several targets, i.e. increasing the share of renewable energy, securing the supply of heat to the DHS and ensuring an economic operation of the entire portfolio.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Nicolas Witte-Humperdinck
AU  - Christian Thommessen
AU  - Florian Nigbur
AU  - Jan Scheipers
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/02/04
TI  - Comparison of Strategies for Thermal Storage Operation to Increase the Share of Renewable Energy in District Heating Systems
BT  - Proceedings of the 14th International Renewable Energy Storage Conference 2020 (IRES 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 94
EP  - 99
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/ahe.k.210202.014
DO  - 10.2991/ahe.k.210202.014
ID  - Witte-Humperdinck2021
ER  -