Seven European cities unite for the decarbonisation of heating and cooling in the DecarbCityPipes 2050 project

The EU-funded DecarbCityPipes 2050 project under Horizon 2020 aims to bring together seven European cities (Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur) to learn from each other and coordinate their work to address local challenges they may encounter. It aims to equip cities with skills and knowledge to decarbonise heating and cooling buildings by 2050, with a special focus on phasing out natural gas in heating.

The project aims to bring together the seven European cities to coordinate the work and implement roadmaps that allow the transition of the air conditioning sector.

Cities will develop their skills in the use of data, planning tools and instruments, as well as in the management of processes and transitions. They will also carry out transition roadmaps for the heating and cooling sector in cooperation with their local utilities, reinforcing trust and commitment to their implementation.

This project, which began in July 2020 and will end in August 2023, has a budget of 1,894,032.50 euros fully funded by the European Union and is coordinated by UIV Urban Innovation Comes GMBH (Austria). A total of 12 partners participate, including two Spanish partners: Bilbao City Council and the Tecnalia Research and Innovation Foundation.

Decarbonised heat supply

Cities are assessing existing energy demand for heating and cooling (H&C). They will then estimate the future demand and potential of renewables for supply. With this in mind, the project partners have developed a report with two main objectives.

The first is to help the seven cities explore the various possibilities and combinations of low-carbon H&C supply for urban areas. The second is to identify and describe the technical and economic strengths and weaknesses of different heating solutions.

Project partners have developed a report that aims to address the different solutions for providing heating and cooling in urban areas with low CO2 emissions.

The report begins by exploring the optimal balance between cost of supply and heat savings and then examines potential sources of heat supply ranging from individual heat sources to district heating. Plans will be developed to determine where different solutions are most cost-effective for each district.

This depends, for example, on the energy infrastructure available, the types and density of buildings and local energy resources. Cities will cooperate with their local utilities to develop transition roadmaps for the H&C sector. Roadmaps define how to deliver these solutions, at what pace, and who to engage. To achieve this, it will be necessary to adapt and create appropriate legal and financial instruments.

Practical examples

The seven cities differ in size, population, heat density, climate, existing infrastructure, renewable energy sources, planning capacity, and spatial energy planning levels. This disparity is reflected in several guides for cities that are mostly planned for this year 2022. These are guidance documents that share the knowledge gained with other cities in Europe that wish to replicate the project’s approach.

The graph shows the current breakdown of available heat sources in Dublin and the one forecast in 2030.

Thus, for example, with Decarb City Pipes 2050 Dublin intends to create effective leadership, policy and acceptance for the low-carbon heating and cooling transition needed to overcome barriers to the deployment of alternatives to gas networks, in coordination with stakeholders at local level, regional and national with the acceptance and support of citizens.

To achieve this, Codema is Dublin’s energy agency that aims to work with the city’s four local authorities to reduce their energy use (50%) and emissions (40%) by 2030 and help local authorities lead and influence the low-carbon transition; supporting community networks in the development of a low-carbon energy model; and identify and advocate for best practices, low-carbon transport and carbon solutions.

Dublin wants to learn from more cities with experience in this sector, and exchange experiences with cities like Bilbao, which also have experience in creating new district heating and cooling networks.

With Decarb City Pipes 2050 the City of Munich aims to develop area-specific solutions to eliminate fossil fuel generation, focusing on the decarbonization and expansion of the existing district heating network, mainly by expanding deep geothermal power generation, and efficient decarbonization solutions outside the areas of the district heating network.

In this map of the Munich City Heat Plan, district heating areas are indicated in red.

Munich hopes to convert the steam network into hot water, reduce and adapt the flow temperature to feed heat from geothermal power plants. In addition, Munich aims to learn how to increase local acceptance for the heating and cooling transition and increased use of geothermal energy by establishing new communication channels and participatory structures.

The city will continue to use this project to inform the planning of this transformation and expansion of the district heating and cooling network and increase the number of connections, in particular through the exchange with Rotterdam and Vienna.

Vienna, Rotterdam, Winterthur and Bratislava

Vienna took a big step towards the energy transition in 2021 with the introduction of binding energy zoning plans. Currently, the city is defining so-called ‘climate protection areas’, in which new buildings cannot use fossil fuels (including natural gas) for heating.

As a next step – and perfectly coinciding with the duration of the project – these zones will be expanded to eliminate fossil fuel heating systems in existing buildings (in the medium and long term). Therefore, many more considerations and discussions will be needed at all levels: with regard to data as well as the legal, economic and political consequences of phasing out existing heating systems.

The decentralized solutions will be deployed mainly in low-density areas located on the outskirts of the city of Vienna, according to H&C’s outlook for 2030-2050.

For its part, Rotterdam is preparing to transform at least 10,000 gas buildings to other heating solutions by the end of 2022. The current challenge is focused on maintaining and improving livability in the face of defining developments such as climate change. Rotterdam focuses on the energy transition as the most important key to a sustainable and secure future for its citizens.

In the case of Winterthur the main measure is the preparation of an engineering study to define the supply and develop a detailed plan that determines the sources of energy and also establish a timetable for the implementation of the energy plan. The first priority is to expand the pipeline network, and the second priority will be the implementation of district heating centers with renewable energy sources, which will relieve the waste incineration plant and, above all, the burden of fossil fuels.

Bratislava has extensive district heating networks, but very few of them come from renewables, and hopes to increase capacity for the heating and cooling transition with Decarb City Pipes 2050. In his case, he hopes to put into operation within three or four years the lessons learned in this project for the update of his heating concept.

Bilbao’s energy model

The Basque Country aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and the city of Bilbao has a goal of zero emissions by 2050. As Bilbao does not yet have a district heating system, it is currently assessing in which parts of the city it will deploy new infrastructure. Bilbao hopes to learn valuable lessons from the other partner cities for this assessment, including the best infrastructure options for different types of districts.

According to strategy number three, in the old town of Bilbao the implementation of a district heating network is a good option.

The process of developing the H&C Plan in the city of Bilbao has mainly involved the technical part of the local working group that involves the participation of technicians from the Sustainability Commission, as well as municipal departments, regional institutions, utilities, etc. In this case, three strategies have been studied.

The first consists of a deep renovation of building blocks and the second that focuses on the implementation of aerothermal systems pay special attention to the protection of the historical heritage of certain buildings. Instead, the third strategy focuses on district heating and cooling networks that focus on resource availability, distance to it and infrastructure construction if necessary.

The energy model of the building stock of the city of Bilbao has been developed using the Enerkad tool. The model can be used to test different scenarios for the urban energy transition. The model has been used to assess the feasibility of district heating systems and other systems that can decarbonise the heating and cooling supply in Bilbao. This model uses as input data basic information from the cadastre from which the characterization and the heating and cooling schedules are inferred.

The tool allows you to compare parameters in current and future scenarios to analyze the proposed measures for buildings and districts.

The Enerkad tool calculates the hourly energy demand for each of the final uses of the building: heating, cooling, DHW, lighting and equipment. The use of energy certificate data can also be calculated regarding the type of installation and fuel, fuel consumption and its associated costs and emissions. The building stock model has been adjusted with real data on the city’s total energy consumption, provided by the energy distribution companies. This is a crucial point to correctly quantify energy consumption and not overestimate the potential reduction of planned interventions.

In this specific case, it is expected that the results of the Decarb City Pipes 2050 project will be integrated into the local energy efficiency regulation and energy use plan, as well as into the Basque Energy Law. Bilbao also has a lot to offer for other cities to learn, particularly with regard to governance aspects, as it has almost complete autonomy over urban planning.

The path to a zero-emission energy system is mapped out through this project. The vision of sustainable and affordable heating and cooling depends on cities putting it into action.

Source: ESEficiencia