Work

Assessing demand response in district heating with waste-heat utilization

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Demand response can enable shifting the heat demand profile of consumers in district heating to improve utilization of variable waste-heat sources. Yet, effective demand response may rely heavily on the heating supply, the buildings and their heat control, and the participating share of the building mass. Here, we present an iterative methodology for assessing price-driven demand response during the development of the heating solution of new building areas with district heating and available waste heat. The proposed methodology integrates in hierarchy a social-welfare type formulation for computation of a price signal, model predictive control of the building space heating using the price signal to shift the load, and cost minimization for the district heating operator. The proposed methodology is applied to a building area under development in Trondheim, Norway, where waste heat from a local ice-rink is available. We perform sensitivity analysis on the building area participating in the demand response to asses the effect on the total heat use and costs. Our results show a potential of 13% reduction in operational cost at the expense of 1% increase in energy consumption if the entire residential building stock participates in the demand response over a representative period of 90 days.

Source: Sustainable Cities and Society

DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2025.106270

Authors: Brage Rugstad Knudsen, Cristina Zotică, Daniel Rohde, Sverre Stefanussen Foslie, Harald Taxt Walnum

Institutions: SINTEF Energy Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Integrated Energy Systems Optimization

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Affordable and clean energy, Sustainable cities and communities, Climate action, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,870