DH RoutingPricing Economic analysis - speed them up automatically
By Thomas Andreas Østergaard, Market director, COWI
By Adam Frechowicz, Project Manager, COWI
The paper describes the analysis of the Gentofte Fjernvarme District Heating Company as it will be when extended with consumers converted from natural gas in the coming years. The project’s objective was to recommend the hydrauli- cally and economically most favorable configuration of the transmission pipelines and distribution networks. Further- more, a preliminary financial analysis of the planned in- vestment was performed. The task was completed using software dedicated to district heating (DH) networks anal- ysis: the recognized Termis and the innovative Comsof Heat. Extending a DH network is a long-term process that needs to be planned well in terms of hydraulics and timeframe. One of the first steps is pipeline routing, which usually utilizes streets. Future consumers need to be identified regarding location, heating- and hot tap water requirements. The process is fol- lowed by many pipe dimensioning - leading to a preliminary determination of costs and economic effects. Although these stages are only a tentative and estimative part of the entire investment, they are a prerequisite to investment planning and budgeting. At the same time, they require a considerable amount of time. Fortunately, there is a way to shorten this pro- cess using Comsof Heat Designer. This software can become a valuable part of any DH planner’s toolbox. The Gentofte DH Company expansion project is practical evidence. The task The expansion of the Gentofte DH Company will provide heat supply to approximately 6,000 new consumers with an expect-
ed annual energy demand of 192 GWh. The completion of the investment is planned for 2027. The study’s main objective was to determine the preliminary routings and the diameters of the future transmission and distribution pipelines. The analysis included a calculation of the key economic parameters of the investment. Part of the planned distribution areas has no access to the existing DH network. Therefore, the task required determin- ing the routes and diameters of new transmission pipelines. Furthermore, developing capacity from the heat central (NYC)
owned by CTR (Cen- tralkommunernes Transmissionssel- skab I/S) provid- ed an additional challenge to the task. Since the heat central is located at the outer edge of the network, it was necessary to pro- pose a solution that would not create an imbalance in the system. Therefore, from among several transmission pipe- lines configurations,
Approximately 6.000 new consumers
System extension by 192 MWh
More than 100 kilometers of new distribution network
Figure 1 Project background data
18 HOTCOOL no.2 2022
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