Integration of heat storage system into district heating networks fed by a biomass CHP plant

Abstract

Biomass Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants connected to district heating networks (DHN) are recognized as a very good opportunity to increase the share of renewable sources into energy systems. However, as CHP plants are not optimized for electricity production, their operation is profitable only if a sufficient heat demand is available throughout the year. On the other hand, these plants often work for baseline operations and back-up boilers are used to supply the peak demand. To extend the use of the CHP plants and reduce costs, conventional fuel use and emissions, it is proposed to study the feasibility of using the DHN itself or additional high temperature heat storage as retrofit of an existing CHP plant.This work is based on a simple and effective methodology that provides accurate estimations of economic, environmental and energetic performances of CHP plants connected to district heating networks. The focus is performed on the integration of the heat storage as retrofit of existing DHN considering the local policies.The DHN of the University in Liège (Belgium) is used as an application framework to demonstrate the effectiveness of the selected approach. The potential energy, pollutant emissions savings and resulting energy costs are estimated and the current policy limitations will be discussed.