Strategic Imperatives: the crucial role of district heating pipe lifespan in achieving climate objectives
Why is the service life of district heating pipelines so important for achieving climate targets?
The implementation of the European climate targets is related to the transformation and expansion of existing district heating (DH) systems. For this purpose, utilities must create suitable decarbonisation paths, transfer these into a transformation strategy and create acceptance for corresponding measures in the supply area.
Existing DH networks are the pillar of these transformation strategies and for the implementation of the European climate targets. A lot of DH pipes in these networks have been built before the 1990s and to ensure the security of supply we need to know their remaining service life as well as targeted maintenance strategies. Requirements for maintenance strategies are meaningful inventory, accurate damage statistics, and comprehensive operating data as well as reliable simulation results from asset management tools. Scarce existing data in combination with the numerous influences on the service life of DH pipes result in great uncertainties in asset management.
Moving towards the EU’s climate targets increases the requirements for the asset management of DH networks, especially the forecasting accuracy of the remaining service life of the DH pipes.
This IEA DHC Annex TS6 webinar will address the political, legal, and financial challenges related to the topic and will discuss them generally. Besides that, an outlook on the related technical issues that need to be solved in further research projects will be given.
Agenda
- Welcome and context - Crélida Mata, Market Intelligence Analyst, Euroheat & Power
- Existing district heating systems in the EU-policy framework - Madis Laaniste, Policy Officer, Directorate General for Energy, European Commission
- Why is the remaining service life of DH pipes important to manage current challenges? - Stefan Hay, Project manager R&D Department, AGFW - Task Manager of the IEA DHC TS6 Project
- Asset Management for a resilient, sustainable, and economical heat supply - Magnus Ohlson, Technical Manager, District Heating, Öresundskraft/Helsingborg
- Practical experiences: European standards and their improvements to fulfil customers’ requirements - the manufacturers´ perspective - Christian Engel, Business Development Manager, Armacell Austria (Austroflex) & Member of the CEN TC 107))
- Discussion with questions from the audience
- Wrap-up - Crélida Mata, Market Intelligence Analyst, Euroheat & Power
The virtual event is co-organised by Euroheat & Power (EHP) and AGFW as part of the IEA DHC Annex TS6.
Participation is free. Further information on the topic and research activities can be found at:
