10 STEP Each of the above projects have taken different routes to project development and have different drivers propelling them forward. However, each has followed some basic steps. We outline ten key steps below to support the development of a policy and investment road map for a district energy system. These ten steps are as outlined in the United Nations Environment Programme report, District Energy in Cities34F , which is an excellent resource tool to assist developers in the development of a district energy utility. Integrate district energy into national and/or local energy strategy and planning In Europe, the EU’s Buildings Directive, Energy Efficiency Directive and Renewable Energy Directive all support and require development of strategic energy planning and consideration of centralised heat supply. However, in practice to date, this has not transpired into many more DH projects in Europe, even though these directives have been in place for many years. 3
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Strategic planning and understanding of thermal energy demand and supply is critical to the establishment of viable business cases for district energy utilities and is important to have as a requirement at a municipal or national level.
Assess existing energy & climate policy objectives, strategies & targets and identify catalysts
Why should your city district energise? As discussed above there are different drivers, and these are likely to change and strengthen with the ongoing energy transition. In Europe the EU Green Deal will likely lead to the phasing out of fossil fuels and each city will need to determine what the most economical way to deliver thermal energy will be when natural gas and oil are not available options. In the authors experience, developing a larger DH system on city level through concept to implementation and commissioning process in a new country can be a lengthy process and needs to be planned and developed a decade in advance.
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Map local energy demand and evaluate local energy resources
Heat demand and energy supply mapping of local energy resources provide critical understanding of a city’s potential for district energy development and are a key component for viability assessment. Development of such mapping requires good data on demand.
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Determine relevant policy design considerations
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Strengthen or develop the institutional multi-stakeholder coordination framework
To catalyse the establishment of DH as a utility in a new city, there is a need for wellconsidered policy design to encourage its establishment. There are many options available for policy design to establish a new utility, and this should be studied further to develop policy which best fits the route the respective city wishes to take to achieve its objective. Policy design should consider both the existing developed zones and proposed zones for development. Such policy design should consider connection policy options to ensure consumers connect to the new utility. Options such as mandatory connections could be considered, or connection unless the developer can prove that the district energy solution is not cost effective through standardized city planning tools.
To establish a district energy utility, due to its nature and the need to capitalise on waste/ambient heat sources, there will likely be a need for multiple institutional stakeholders to be assembled to work within a coordinated framework. In order to provide input and discussion at various steps in the utilities development (as described below) they should however, be all unified under the same objective.
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