High Resolution Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Carbon Free Heat Sources for District Heating : A Case Study of Helsinki

Abstract: Heat production together with electricity production stands for 31% of the global CO2 emissions. The production is as of today still highly dependent on fossil fuels, with a global district energy mix share of fossil fuels of 90%. To stay in line with the Paris Agreement, district heating must be configured away from fossil fuels by utilizing new emission free heat sources as well as creating higher energy efficient cities by incorporating more waste heat recovery. Helsinki has a District Heating (DH) dominated by fossil fuels and proclaimed goals of becoming carbon-­neutral by 2035, as of 2020 the annual heat demand in the city was 6.4TWh of heat. To do so, there is a need for research to investigate ways to include carbon-­free heat sources into the current heating system. There is currently a limited amount of literature available in this area and from the identified research gap the following main research question was developed. How can Helsinki achieve carbon-­free district heating? To easier answer the main research question, three three sub­questions were developed. (1) How large is the energy potential for non­-carbon based heat sources in Helsinki for district heating? (2) Where are the heat sources located? (3) What are the techno-­economic implications of the heat sources? A high resolution heat source mapping and spatial analysis was conducted for the city of Helsinki where low grade heat sources were to be identified for the purpose of district heating. The work focused on the following heat sources: Grocery Retail, Ice Rinks, Subway Stations, Data Centers, Wastewater, Sea Water Heat Pumps and Geothermal Energy. The developed model consists of five steps: (1) Heat source identification, (2) Technical potential evaluation, (3) DH-network mapping & Spatial analysis, (4) Economic model, and (5) Techno-­Economic evaluation. A total of 363 heat source points was identified and evaluated. The combined results of the heat sources were a total capacity of 1257.56 MW with a resulting total annual heat production of 7008.31 GWh. The majority of the capacity and heat was contributed from seawater heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps. Around 84% of the mapped heat sources were within 100 meters of the current district heating piping network. The economical findings show that a majority of the heat sources yield a positive net present value and a discounted payback period of below 11 years. The levelized cost of heat was within reasonable expectations when compared to existing data where Data centers showed the most promising result. The study can conclude that Helsinki can potentially achieve a non-­carbon­ based district heating system with a sufficient heat production management strategy.