Clean district heating is like public transportation

Public transportation has many advantages compared to private motoring: resources are used more wisely and emissions remain smaller. Moreover, overall optimisation is much easier, e.g. considering traffic congestion, as there are fewer moving vehicles and their timetables are known. From the individual’s perspective, it’s an easy, reliable and cleaner transportation solution.

A district heating system can be compared to urban public transportation. Water that is heated in the district heating network circulates in underground pipes and warms buildings and domestic hot water. As a centralised solution, it can tap into the existing resources in a more optimum way by using a shared infrastructure and recycled waste heat energy from different sources. Customers do not have to worry about managing it.

District heating will become carbon neutral too

Up to now, heating has been produced with fossil fuels, but a rapid transformation is currently underway in Finland: district heating systems are being converted to become carbon neutral. For example, the solutions we are pursuing in the city of Espoo are not based on combustion, but on waste heat, heat pumps and electricity. With the increase in the number of electric heat pumps, the opportunities for cleaner district cooling also increase.

Why is district heating a better alternative than building-specific solutions?

In Finland, many residential areas and new constructions are currently contemplating the most sustainable solution for heating in the future. Low-carbon heating is also an advantage for sellers of residential units. Already, plenty of building-specific solutions using carbon-neutral electricity are available on the market. However, these solutions are like private cars and the overall system they shape is not as energy efficient or climate friendly as a centralised solution, such as public transportation or district heating.

What’s more, without district heating networks our electricity system would be burdened. We have calculated that during extreme low temperatures in Finland, the required amount of electricity generation capacity would be 1.5 times higher without the district heating system. The Finnish energy system couldn’t handle that without significant additional investments. The district heating system is already scaled for extreme low temperatures, but building-specific systems typically are not scaled for extreme low temperatures; instead, a sufficient temperature is achieved by supplementing with direct electric heating. This puts an added load on the electricity system.

Even better solution with artificial intelligence

Carbon-neutral district heating system controlled by artificial intelligence is capable of an energy efficiency that isn’t possible with building-specific solutions. For example, as wind power increases, district heating system can store surplus electricity as heat and use it for district heating when the wind isn’t blowing. An artificial intelligence-controlled district heating system can reduce energy consumption in areas where it isn’t needed at that particular time. District heating system also helps with security of supply – the network stays warm also during long power outages.

This leads to a question: wouldn’t it make sense to also integrate building-specific systems into the district heating network? For example, a high-capacity heat pump solution could sell any surplus heat that the building doesn’t need to a district heating network. In the future, we will see an increase in such district heating and building-specific heating combinations, i.e. hybrid solutions.

District heating is an outstanding solution for a customer looking for convenience: a small initial investment for the housing company and low-maintenance technology. In the future, residents will have better control of the conditions in their own units: cooling and warming them to their own comfort level.

District heating network is part of the Nordic infrastructure that is currently the envy of the rest of Europe. District heating is the choice for urban residents who are climate conscious and responsible - now and in the future.