Climate-neutral heat supply in districts: a comparison of concepts Economic efficiency and socio-economic consequences
When it comes to energy-efficient district development, the question of whether heat for buildings will be provided decentrally (individually for each building) or centrally via a district heating network is of great importance. The decision for or against a district heating network depends on a variety of influencing factors. A distinction must also be made between the neighborhood perspective and the perspective of the users (e.g. owner-occupiers and tenants).
This publication, which is part of a three-part series of publications on this topic, examines whether general and robust recommendations can be made for three model districts with regard to a decentralized or centralized supply solution. In addition to the structural specifics of the district, other factors such as the energy efficiency level of the buildings, the technology scenario of the heat supply or the energy price level are varied in order to derive important influencing factors on the advantages or disadvantages of a centralized or decentralized supply solution.
The results clearly show that decentralized supply is preferable to centralized supply from the perspective of the district and users for the single-family housing district studied and that this result is robust in the face of changes to the framework conditions. Conversely, the same applies to the multi-family housing district studied, for which the grid-connected supply solution is economically advantageous compared to a decentralized supply.
The study also shows that a (partial) supply with hydrogen or synthetic gases is not an economically viable alternative to the electrification of the heat supply. This is due in particular to the high costs of setting up a hydrogen grid infrastructure and the high costs of synthetic energy sources.
Other publications in the series:
