Inspiration
District heating from a datacenter in Dublin
In the Tallaght area of Dublin there is a datacenter that needs cooling. At the same time the surrounding households need heating. This is a perfect case for a mutually beneficial thermal energy network.
In this project the TEN21 toolbox has been used to support local officials on how to expand the district heating network to utilize waste heat from the data center. We have built an energy system model to find an efficient expansion strategy from a techno-economic perspective. In addition, we created a strategy for commercializing the district heating activity on a cost-recovery basis.
All of this has been done in close dialogue with South Dublin County Council and Dublin’s Energy Agency to ensure that the work will have a real-world impact.
Where to place the money?
Investments in thermal energy networks are needed all over the world, but where are the best opportunities found?
In this project TEN21 has supported a leading infrastructure investor to perform an in-depth market analysis of European and North American countries. The analysis was multi-dimensional. Besides the economic perspective the analysis encompassed both political, social and legal barriers along with technical and environmental aspects of the district heating market in each country.
After the initial country-screening, we dug deeper into three specific countries allowing the investor to understand the possible points of entry into each district energy market.
Want to learn about low temperature district heating?
Interested in next generation of district heating? Check some of the work TEN21 partner Kristina Lygnerud has been working on.
With the guidebook for low temperature district heating implementation you can learn about the low temperature impact across the value chain.
With the ReUseHeat handbook you can investigate how to use urban waste heat from metros, datacenters or even sewage water.
In this explainer video you get an introduction to the advantages of low temperature heat systems and how to build them.
Does the EU taxonomy lead the way to district heating?
Can the EU taxonomy help channel investments towards district heating, or does it have the opposite effect?
The EU taxonomy is a framework to guide investors towards green investments. It is crucial for decision makers in district heating companies to ensure green investments can flow their way. That is why we put focus on the details of the EU taxonomy to identify the impact of the EU taxonomy on the district heating case.
As part of our work towards an efficient taxonomy Kristina Lygnerud from the Swedish Environmental Institute (IVL) is an active participant in the EU’s Investors Dialogue on Energy within heating and cooling.
This project is associated with the Sustainable Finance Lab, read more here.