Abstract
Abstract Studies on decarbonizing district heating systems are either system specific or use artificial district heating systems. In contrast to the liberalized electricity sector, there are no disclosure obligations in the district heating sector. This paper offers eight district heating system categories, representing the landscape of district heating systems in Germany as of 31st December 2019. As a basis, the German district heating systems and their heat generation technologies were researched using public power plant lists, notices and approvals by the authorities, press releases, plant brochures, and operator websites. The collected data was validated through individual contact and information gathered by the AGFW, the German District Heating Association. Key figures based on economic and operational anticipated behavior are formed and evaluated for 82 district heating systems with an installed thermal capacity each greater than 50 MWth. Those key figures are then used in an agglomerative clustering algorithm to form the presented categories. By publishing the key figures, the inaccessibility of data is overcome, and the complexity in models for studies on a national level can be reduced. Possible transformation pathways can be derived per category and district heating system operators can transfer the results to their own systems.
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