Project - ENABLE DHC
Enabling strategies and investment plans for efficient, multi-energy and digitalized DHC
The ENABLE-DHC project is funded by the EU under the LIFE programme and runs from September 2024 to August 2027. The main objective is to support district heating network operators in the development of decarbonisation plans. ENABLE-DHC is coordinated by Ambiente Italia and involves 12 partner organisations from nine countries, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia, Ukraine.
ENABLE main objectives:
- The development of an enabling framework for the diffusion of DHC systems fulfilling the EED criteria for “efficient district heating and cooling”
- supporting the development of concrete investment plans for the renovation, upgrading and decarbonisation of 9 existing DHC systems in 7 EU countries, based on the integration of local RES and waste heat
ENABLE features following activities:
- Analysis of the context and of the reference framework of the local DHC network;
- Dialogue, interaction and cooperation with relevant stakeholders
- Assess the technical feasibility and overall sustainability of a wide range of solutions
- Developing detailed financial plans and business models; including a qualitative and (for some cases also a) quantitative a risks assessment
- Create roadmaps and Position papers; handbooks and capacity building
Case studies: Vienna, Weiz and Gleisdorf (Austria); Rijeka (Croatia), Acqui Terme (Italy); Dublin (Ireland); Riga (Latvia); Ljubljana (Slovenia); Poltava and Stryit (Ukraine)
Decarbonization in Heat Supply
AIT is focusing the evaluation of investment risks for different heat supply portfolios and decarbonization pathways, including:
A general assessment of uncertainties for all case studies regarding the future development of key factors such as
- prices for electricity and “green” gases, options to participate in short term electricity markets by providing balancing /flexibility, electricity / gas networks constrains and capacity markets, availability of RES and waste heat, demand side developments, local, regional and national regulatory framework conditions.
- support the cost/benefit ranking of solutions and the selection of most promising low-carbon DHC models.
A sensitivity analysis for the case studies Vienna and Ljubljana through Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) (for the)
- Defining the probability density functions (pdf) of all uncertainty factors considered
- Extracting the results from the currently developed decarbonization strategy
- performing the MCS using the pdfs for a selected heat supply portfolio
