Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHTDecarbonization
Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the municipal utility network ASEW are working on an online platform for heat transformation tools
In future, Germany's municipalities will be required to submit concepts and strategies for climate-neutral heating. This is the aim of the law on municipal heating planning planned for 2024. The aim is to transform the supply of space heating, hot water and process heat to a greenhouse gas-neutral system. In order to record heating demands, identify local potentials and develop a corresponding action plan, each municipality must take its own individual path. Best-practice examples and tools for drafting the heat transition provide orientation and assistance. This is where Fraunhofer UMSICHT and the municipal utility network Arbeitsgemeinschaft für sparsame Energie- und Wasserverwendung (ASEW) are working on a joint project: They want to evaluate and characterize existing tools and measures and make them available to heating market players via an online platform.
"Whether municipalities, municipal utilities or grid operators – anyone who wants to tackle municipal heating planning often faces two challenges: Firstly, information on transformation measures that have already been implemented is available in a very fragmented form only. Secondly, the large number of existing energy system planning tools and the generally poor documentation of their possible applications lead to disorientation," says Dr. Anne Hagemeier from Fraunhofer UMSICHT. "The result: instead of building on existing tools, many start from scratch and invest time and financial resources in the development of new tools."
Together with ASEW, the researchers in the "PlaWaTT" project are therefore working on an online platform for heat transformation tools and measures that will serve as a decision-making aid and working basis for protagonists in the heating market. They are bringing together existing research results and practical experience and creating profiles of technological and supporting measures. These characterizations include environmental factors such as consumption and network structures as well as measures for heat transformation.
In addition, the project partners are looking at methods for potential analysis to integrate new heat sources, prioritization of heat supply solutions, heat network planning and design, system deployment planning and operational analysis. Stefan Schulze-Sturm from ASEW: "We are analyzing and evaluating existing tools with a view to their practical relevance: What is suitable for which issue and which planning step? What about user-friendliness and development status? And which tools can be combined?" The results are clearly presented on the platform, linked with each other and to further information.
To work as application-oriented as possible right from the start, "PlaWaTT" is accompanied by representatives from the field – including municipal utilities and associations. Their specialist input is incorporated into the project work. At the same time, they serve as multipliers, reflecting the findings from the project to their networks. The final result should be a low-maintenance platform based on automated processes that helps to find and use appropriate tools and concepts to shape the heating transition.
FUNDING NOTICE
The project "PlaWaTT – Platform for heat transformation tools and measures: evaluation and characterization of concepts and tools for the decarbonization of the heating sector" is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. Reference number: 03EN3086A-B.