The Netherlands is aiming at a climate neutral build environment in 2050, in line with the goals of the EU. This implies that district heating networks will have to be nearly climate neutral as well. A number of Dutch heat suppliers annually reports on their contributions to a climate neutral energy supply. It is, however, often unclear how these reductions are calculated, i.e. which information is being used and what the underlying assumptions are. The Dutch government therefore has introduced a reporting obligation for district heating suppliers. Under this obligation, it will be mandatory for suppliers to report annually on the sustainability of the heat supplied to their customers by providing at least information on: (1) CO2 emissions per unit of delivered heat, (2) Primary fossil energy use per unit of delivered heat and (3) the share of renewable energy sources. To ensure that reported data are transparent and comparable, a mandatory uniform reporting format and method to calculate the three indicators was developed. It is based on existing definitions and methods that are already accepted and recognised by the stakeholders and in line with the buildings regulations. The methodology should provide insight on the actual sustainability of supplied heat by using annual measured data from the heat suppliers as well as annual monitoring data on e.g. the efficiency and CO2 emissions of the Dutch electricity production systems. This presentation outlines the methodology.

1. 1
Reporting on the sustainability of district
heating networks:
development of a uniform calculation method
CA-EED plenary meeting
19-20 October 2017
Sofia, Bulgaria
Mirjam Harmelink (Harmelink consulting)
Lex Bosselaar (RVO)

2. 2
Contents
• Outline of heat supply in the Netherlands
• Reporting obligation
• Principles
• Heat supply sources
• Examples
• Discussion

3. 3
Energy consumption in the Netherlands
Final energy
consumption
Feed stocks
Energy consumption
energy sector
Conversion losses
Heat
Electricity
Transport
Natural gas
Other
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Primary energy balance Final energy consumption Heat production by fuel
source
30% of primary energy
use for production of
heat
90% of the heat is
produced with natural
gas

4. 4
Role and characteristics of district heating

5. 5
Reporting obligation
• Why?
– Government objectives: move away from natural gas >
expanding & greening districting heating systems (DHS)
– Requires increase transparency in reporting
• Reporting: Mandatory indictors
– CO2 emissions (kg) per unit of delivered heat,
– Primary fossil energy use (GJp) per unit of delivered heat,
– Share of renewable heat (%)
• Furthermore obligatory reporting on:
– Type and number of customers
– Auxiliary energy
– Heat produced and supplied by source
– Heat losses.

6. 6
Principles in developing the calculation method
• Reporting on individual district heating networks
• Calculation method based on accepted standards and
methods:
– EMG standard (Energy performance standard for provisions at district
level), that is aligned with the European Standard EN 15316-4-5
– EC Directive on Renewable energy & Dutch Protocol Monitoring
Renewable Energy
– Calculation method for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings
• Calculations should reflect actual sustainability of
supplied heat
• Green Certificates are not valued

7. 7
Considered heat supply sources (#1)
1. Electricity
– Used as auxiliary energy
– Associated CO2 emissions
and primary energy
calculated by taking full
mix of production facilities
into account (incl.
renewables)
– Numbers for most actual
year are used
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
2000 2010 2020 2030
kg/kWh

8. 8
Considered heat supply sources (#2)
2. Heat supplied by heat driven CHP installations
– “Power Bonus” method used to allocate CO2 emissions and primary fossil
energy use
00 10 20 30 40
Waste incinerator
Natural gas fired power plant
Coal fired power plant
Coal fired power plant: 80% biomass
Coal fired power plant: 80% CCS
kg CO2/GJ produced heat
3. Heat supplied by electricity
driven CHP installation
– Includes power stations and waste
incinerators
– Assumption: losses in electricity
production are off-set by additional
production in all power station
feeding into the grid
– Method “corrects” for carbon
contents of fuels used in individual
installations

9. 9
Considered heat supply sources (#3)
4. Heat supplied by a boiler
5. Residual heat
– Heat would be otherwise be discharged
– Does not require additional fuel input
4. Heat from geothermal sources
– General principle: all electricity consumed within the system boundaries is
allocated to utilized heat and / or cold

10. 10
Example #1
Heat end-
users
Heat end-
users
Transport grid
Sub
station Distribution grid
Electricity
driven CHP
natural gas
Biomass
boiler
Natural
gas boiler
Auxiliaryenergy:
electricity
20
100
39
0
1
12
1
2
4.3
2.2
102
1975
0
611
146
2.2 146
293
Black number: monitoring data
Red number: calculated primary energy use
Green number: calculated CO2 emissions
Blue circled numbers: calculated renewable energy
production
Primary fossil
energy
Primary renewable
energy
Primary
fossilenergy
Auxiliaryenergy:
electricity
Auxiliaryenergy:
electricity
10
INDICATORS
Primary fossil energy use GJ primary /GJ heat0,6
Share of renewable energy % 25%
CO 2 emissions kg/GJ heat 31

11. 11
Example #2
Heating &
cooling end-
users
Auxiliaryenergy:
pumpenergy
Auxiliaryenergy:
electricity
District heating networkHeat
pump
Heating &
cooling end-
users
Warm & cold water
from geothermal
sources
Warm & cold water
from geothermal
sources
100
30
20
5.443
95
2929 366
District cooling network 28
2.5
5.4 366
2.5
Auxiliary
energy:
electricity
Black number: monitoring data
Red number: calculated primary energy use
Green number: calculated CO2 emissions
Blue circled numbers: calculated renewable energy
production
INDICATORS Heating Cooling
Primary fossil energy use GJ primary /GJ final_energy0,5 0,2
Share of renewable energy % 68% 82%
CO 2 emissions kg/GJ final_energy 37 6

12. 12
Conclusions/discussion
• A method to gain insight the sustainability of district heating
systems calculating three indicators can de established using
existing standards and employing already available data
• Methods can be starting point to develop methods in other
European countries. However, discussion on harmonisation of
methods around Europe is probably necessary to address issues
like:
– how to deal with a growing share of renewables
– how to rate this in the sustainability of district heating.