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New ideas for the supply of heat: Coal-mining areas to become more low-carbon

Coal-mining regions could in future convert their old district heating supply into a climate-friendly, low-carbon supply system. A regulatory sandbox for the energy transition is now testing how this can be achieved across four locations in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The much-acclaimed 'TransUrban.NRW' project is investigating new ideas for supplying heat in a typical former coal-mining region that has undergone a process of structural change. The heat supply is to make large-scale use of geothermal energy as well as include other renewable energy from wastewater and low-temperature waste heat. The low-temperature supply networks required to implement this system can be newly constructed or integrated into the existing infrastructure. The project will run for five years and is being supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy which is providing around €16.7 million in funding.

At the launch of the regulatory sandbox, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier said: “The project sends out an important signal in difficult times. Our regulatory sandboxes bring together large-scale innovation projects with key industrial policy goals. They test new future technologies for the transformation of the energy system and thus make an important contribution to effecting structural change in the former coal-mining regions of North Rhine-Westphalia.”

The regulatory sandboxes for the energy transition are a part of the Federal Government’s 7th Energy Research Programme (in German only). They are used to implement findings from research onsite in a real-life environment, for example in neighbourhoods, a city or even in several federal states. They thereby allow companies to test technical innovations and other new developments in cooperation with researchers. In addition to testing energy technologies and new concepts, the sandboxes are also used to pinpoint problematic areas in the regulatory framework and look at how these might be remedied. The regulatory sandboxes for the energy transition are to provide answers which can then be applied to and used in other, similar locations in Germany. In this way, they help play a part in the restructuring of our energy system.

Reducing carbon by using low temperatures

'TransUrban.NRW' covers four districts in the cities of Gelsenkirchen, Mönchengladbach and Herne and the town of Erkrath. In these areas, the energy supply was for decades dominated by coal and high-temperature and steam networks are in place throughout. To date, the district heating pipelines continue to be operated using high system temperatures – the only way in which heat from coal-fired power generation and high-temperature waste heat can be used. The downside of this system is that low-carbon renewable energy and low-temperature waste heat cannot be efficiently integrated. Instead, other systems that work at low temperatures of 10 to 40° Celsius are required.

Changing a generation: new heating networks replace old coal infrastructure

To resolve the problem linked to this difference in system temperature, 5th generation heating networks are being used. These new heating networks could soon cover residents’ heating and cooling needs on a large scale. The energy required can, for example, be supplied by geothermal installations (geothermal energy) located in the local neighbourhoods. The experts involved in the testbed project are also making use of sector coupling between the electricity and heat sectors. For example, electricity that is generated locally from photovoltaics is to pump the heat across the upply network using heat pumps.

The new systems also offer a further advantage: they allow heat to be shifted between producers and consumers. This enables buildings that need to be heated to receive waste heat for example from other buildings, data centres or industrial plants that at the time need to be cooled. For the 5th generation energy systems to work efficiently, smart, digital control systems are also needed. Each of the four regulatory sandbox districts is focusing on a different area of innovation and differs in its structure.

New division of roles between prosumers and energy platform operators

The conventional division of roles is that the municipal utilities supply energy and the customer consumes it. But this is now also changing in the four urban project districts in North Rhine-Westphalia. Instead of a few large, centralised power plants, now many smaller and decentralised local generation plants are to increasingly cover the energy demand. This also makes the role of the heating network operators more complex as they have to control both the plants and supply and demand via smart energy platforms. Consumers are becoming 'prosumers'. This is because they now not only consume energy, but can also generate it themselves, for example via photovoltaic systems on the roofs of their homes.

Optimising the regulatory framework

In the TransUrban.NRW project, the need for heat is increasingly covered by electrical energy. The operators and their customers are thus dependent on a viable electricity price model. However, current pricing rules make supplying this electricity for heat unattractive for the energy suppliers. This is why the project is also investigating how to optimise the regulatory framework and create new incentives. This includes developing new, innovative business models for operators.

'TransUrban.NRW' – an award-winning regulatory sandbox

TransUrban.NRW is one of the winners of the 'Regulatory Sandboxes for the Energy Transition' competition for ideas which was announced by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier in July 2019. The beginning of 2020 saw the launch of 'SmartQuart', the first of 20 regulatory sandboxes for the energy transition. One aim of the project is to optimise the energy flows in and between three districts in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate based on the use of smart technology. This includes a digital district management system and a central control unit that is to ensure optimal control of the energy passing through these districts.