Turning up the heat: new potential for district heating across Europe

Beyond simply keeping homes warm, district heating can be a powerhouse for sector coupling, bolstering the power grid and delivering the flexibility essential for a climate-neutral energy future. More importantly, it can pave the way for drastically cutting natural gas consumption and revolutionising energy supply itself, not just in Denmark but across Europe.

District heating can be the key to both strategically important energy independence and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Denmark is a global leader in this area and a driving force behind billion-dollar exports of energy technology. The potential remains substantial for both consumers and businesses.

Like all other infrastructure, district heating requires substantial investments and comprehensive planning to keep costs reasonable and ensure the benefits are fully realised. District heating opportunities will always be adapted to local conditions as both heat supply and demand vary with geography and the availability of heat sources. Regulatory flexibility and empowerment of local authorities are the cornerstones of a large-scale expansion of networks, along with national policies to secure cheap and reliable capital, stable framework conditions and consumer protection.

A flexible system using multiple heat sources

What makes district heating special is the ability to transfer energy that would otherwise simply be wasted. District heating is ‘fuel-agnostic’ in the sense that all types of heat can be integrated and utilised. Apart from the potential for waste heat from industry and power plants, district heating has, for decades, proved extremely flexible in integrating new sources, such as air- or water-source heat pumps, electric boilers or local bioresources. In the past decade, Denmark has proved that district heating increases the resilience and flexibility of the electricity system by storing cheap power in storage tanks.

At the same time, national energy independence is significantly increased when heat sources are no longer dependent on imported fuels, giving both geopolitical and financial freedom and removing potential pressure from foreign powers. In addition, buried infrastructure is less vulnerable to physical attacks on critical infrastructure.

Preparing for international expansion

A large untapped potential lies beyond Denmark’s borders, as more countries recognise the benefits of district heating. It has become one of the cornerstones of EU energy policy because the technology delivers green, affordable and reliable heat without critical dependencies on rare materials and with a natural connection to the electrification of the energy system.

The Netherlands recently passed a new law that is deeply inspired by the Danish district heating model and even copied the Danish credit model. The Netherlands is advancing a very ambitious plan to roll out district heating to more than half a million households before 2030, with total investments expected to reach EUR 5 to 7 billion.

Recognising the Danish experience, the Dutch organisations Warmtenetwerk and TNO requested COWI, via the Danish Energy Agency, to help analyse the differences between the two countries. This resulted in a report in which COWI identified probable cost reductions and planning strategies to help accelerate the Dutch district heating market.

Meanwhile, Ireland is exploring the potential of introducing district heating solutions, and COWI will soon be advising the cities of Dublin and Cork on district heating where excess heat from data centres will represent promising sources of heat. We are also collaborating with the British district heating association ADE on an assignment for the Scottish government and the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to promote and guide the utilisation of recoverable heat in the UK. Meanwhile, in Iceland, district heating utilities need to expand their capacity within the next five years.

COWI is among a select group of engineering consultancies with specialised expertise to deliver these projects successfully. As a leading consultant in utilising the vast energy resources of the seas surrounding Denmark, we know district heating can provide a strong platform beyond Danish borders.