Students research optimization potential of district heating network

Stadtwerke Dorfen GmbH currently supplies a total of 381 households in its community with district heating. District heating has been an important topic there since 2007, when the biomass heating plant was built in the north of the city. In Dorfen, renewable heat is generated in a climate-friendly way using local resources by burning forest wood chips. But residents can also bring their own tree and shrub clippings to the biomass heating plant to generate energy. By using the latest technology and constantly optimizing the district heating network, the municipal utilities want to supply energy as consumer-friendly as possible. The focus on energy efficiency not only contributes to environmental protection, but should also enable customized and customer-specific delivery and, in a further instance, of course, also bring monetary savings for consumers and suppliers.

NO EXCESSIVE EXPANSION OF GENERATION FACILITIES NECESSARY

In order to assess more efficient delivery and possible potential, the group of students was able to draw on a 2017 data collection on the construction class of buildings in Dorfen. This was also carried out by students from the Kufstein University at the time. For the calculations, the buildings were categorized and load profile quantities were calculated for the selected reference houses. This data was then compared with local geological data and local weather data. In comparison with the actual consumption values of customers, it was clearly shown that adjustments are possible in many areas and that an optimized energy supply for consumers can thus be implemented. This would enable an improved operation of the district heating network in Dorfen and avoid the disproportionate expansion of generation plants for the time being.

Links:

• Degree program in Energy & Sustainability Management