Energy
Thermal Storage for Smart and Green Heating This district heating network with thermal storage responds to peak consumption, limits fossil fuel consumption, and maximizes use of renewable energies.
ENVIRONMENTAL This solution reduces fossil fuel dependency and slashes greenhouse gas emissions by about 5,500 metric tons annually.
SOCIAL Thermal storage reduces local air pollution and improves urban air quality.
ECONOMIC Integrating thermal storage into district heating offsets the need to build new heating plants to supply peak consumption.
The need for heating varies over the course of a day, depending on the available sunlight and outdoor temperatures. In a multi-fuels district heating network, there are some periods with no particular need for the energy produced from biomass. At other times, additional conventional boilers have to be enlisted. Borås energi och miljö, the public company that owns the district heating network in Borås, Sweden, has deployed a storage cell – a gigantic, 37,000-m3 reservoir – to uncouple supply from demand and increase energy efficiency. The heating system is optimized by storing the produced energy as hot water during low usage periods. When demand for heat peaks, the hot water is then sent to the district heating network. Why a Sustainia100 solution? This solution has a tremendous scalability potential since there are thousands of heating networks globally to which it can be applied. Depending on storage capacity, the energy reserve can supply heating networks anywhere from a few hours to a few days, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
A gigantic, 37,000 m3 reservoir stores hot water when production exceeds heating demand and releases energy when demand exceeds production.
Developed in Sweden
Deployed in Sweden, France
Solution by Veolia Environment, Dalkia, and Borås Energi och Miljö 107