Heating networks offer the opportunity to use local renewable energies efficiently and can thus make an important contribution to the socially acceptable implementation of the heat transition. This study examines the costs associated with different heating network concepts in suburban areas and the extent to which they can reduce CO₂ emissions. The case study is the potential supply area in the center of Leeste in the Lower Saxony municipality of Weyhe, which was examined in the “Suburban heat transition 2” project. 

The study compares several scenarios with different generator parks. All scenarios meet the requirements of the Federal Funding for Efficient Heating Networks (BEW), but they differ, for example, in terms of their level of ambition or the use of local biomass. The generation technologies and their operating modes were optimized in terms of technology and economics for each scenario, thus identifying the most cost-effective paths for decarbonizing the heat supply. The optimization was carried out for three different potential expansion stages of the network. 

Results show that it is possible to implement a climate-neutral heating network in suburban areas. Depending on the stage of expansion and scenario, supply via a heating network can also compete economically with building-specific heating systems, such as heat pumps. This is particularly true for buildings with poor energy efficiency and correspondingly high temperature requirements in the heating system. However, this requires a high connection rate to the heating network in the supply area. 

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