Increasing Renewables and Building Retrofit in a Coal-Based Cogeneration District Heating System

The 4th generation of district heating systems will play a major role in the sustainable decarbonization of energy systems by utilizing low-temperature technologies and resources. This paper aims to demonstrate the role of energy efficiency in buildings and the coupling of the power and heating sectors in a cogeneration coal-based district heating system, considering technical and environmental boundary conditions. Different scenarios that took into account the expanded district heating system, renewable integration via power-to-heat technologies, and energy efficiency measures in buildings have been created and discussed in this article. The EnergyPLAN model was used to assess the share of primary energy supply savings, electricity produced via renewables, and emission savings due to the implementation of planned research objectives. The findings show that district heating and energy efficiency measures in buildings significantly impact the savings of primary energy supply, variable renewable power integration, and CO2 emission decrease. Besides, the coupling of the power and heating sector increases the flexibility of the district heating systems, allowing for more penetration of variable renewable energy sources in energy systems.