Comparative Analysis of Renewable Energy Community Designs for District Heating Networks: Case Study of Corticella (Italy)

Abstract

In recent years, a rapid increase in the adoption of renewable energy sources and in the transition from a centralized electricity generation system to an increasingly distributed one has occurred. Within this scenario, in line with the European directives for achieving the objectives in the field of energy transition and climate change, energy communities are seen as potential contributors. The purpose of this work is to analyze the application potential of the energy community concept associated with district heating networks, leading to better overall energy-economic performance. This was demonstrated for a specific energy community in Italy, and it can be achieved by maximizing internal energy sharing—resulting from the electricity surplus generated by the photovoltaic system—and adopting different strategies that include heat pumps in order to maximize self-consumption and self-sufficiency, as well as to evaluate the most efficient investment in economic terms by exploiting the incentive tariff on shared energy. The results show that the performance of the system can be improved with the proposed design, achieving a significant reduction in the system’s energy demand, emissions and costs: compared to the reference case, the use of photovoltaics reduces primary energy demand by approximately 11%, while the addition of the energy community configuration allows emissions to be reduced by nearly 12%, with no additional investment.

Renovation Results of Finnish Single-Family Renovation Subsidies: Oil Boiler Replacement with Heat Pumps

“…At the same time, the increasing installation of heat pumps is associated with increased peak loads of electricity [12,14]. Another efficient strategy for decarbonising residential buildings is using heat pumps and photovoltaic (PV) panels [14,15]. The integrated work of air-source heat pumps and grid-connected PV panels as an optimal solution for residential buildings is also pointed out by Stamatellos et al [16][17][18].…”

“…Some studies have shown that replacing existing boilers with heat pumps ensures better urban air quality [13]. At the same time, the increasing installation of heat pumps is associated with increased peak loads of electricity [12,14]. Another efficient strategy for decarbonising residential buildings is using heat pumps and photovoltaic (PV) panels [14,15].…”

Renewable Energy Community: Opportunities and Threats towards Green Transition

“…Another limit of the energy community configuration is highlighted in the installation of photovoltaics in cities and, specifically, on condominium rooftops due to both the limited surface available and the shading effect of other attached and nearby buildings [46,47]. Finally, some of the studies stressed the possibility that the more significant effect on energy consumption reduction is connected to the improvement of building energy efficiency [48].…”

Analysis of the Wider Potential for Heat Pump and Geothermal Energy Integration in Traditional Systems and Grids

“…Several case studies have shown promising results in the transition from traditional heating systems to HPs and combining various renewable energy sources, including HPs, solar energy, common storage facilities, and similar synergies. These efforts aim to improve heating efficiency in both individual and district heating (DH) solutions [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”