One piece of the puzzle towards 100 Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) across Europe by 2025: An open-source approach to unveil favourable locations of PV-based PEDs from a techno-economic perspective

Abstract

To reduce CO2 emissions, the European Commission aims at having 100 Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) planned, developed or established by 2025. A PED annually exports more energy than it imports from the local grid. Because of Europe's diversity, this study aims to indicate where in the EU and under which tariff circumstances an electrified PED will likely thrive most. To do so, the work uses a tailor-made, mixed-integer linear programming model to optimise electrified PED solutions and compare them to the respective status quo for various representative zone-tariff parameter combinations. Results indicate that the optimal potential for PEDs is in southern Europe, with a dynamic electricity tariff and where previously no district heating was used. Under those circumstances, the PED concept could save around 84% of carbon emissions, while being more economical over the project horizon. Pricing of CO2 emissions of energy services additionally nudges towards PED implementation. By limiting the power exchange of the PED with the grid, some of the negative grid impacts can be reduced. This study provides an essential insight into where in Europe a PED could be a sensible addition compared to where other decarbonisation approaches might be more beneficial.