Guidelines on community-led heating and cooling

Example: Thermal energy from surface water

With thermal energy from surface water you extract heat from surface water (e.g. lake, sea, canal, stream, river) with a heat exchanger. An electrically-driven heat pump ensures that the temperature is sufficiently raised to provide heating and domestic hot water in winter. In many cases, the temperature of the surface water also allows you to cool the buildings in summer.

Example: Thermal energy from waste water

We can also use energy from wastewater (i.e. sewage) for heating and cooling. This is sustainable, ecological, and climate-friendly. A heat exchanger (placed in the sewer) captures the heat from the wastewater, which is then upgraded to heat for buildings through a heat pump. Sewage water has temperatures of 12C to 18C, making it a great source of renewable energy.

Example: Thermal energy from drinking water

We can also use heat and coolth from drinking water. From the drinking water pipe, H&C can be transferred via a double-walled heat exchanger for direct use or storage in the soil in a thermal energy storage (TES) system. The H&C is utilised, whereas the drinking water then flows back into the network.

ThermoBello (The Netherlands) developed a low-temperature district heating project in 2009, with temperatures between 30C – 50C. The drinking water protection zone did not allow them to use biomass, so it was decided to use the thermal energy from the drinking water basin that they cool down with a heat pump. This is a type of aquathermal energy. Furthermore, only a limited volume of drinking water is needed to generate heat, as a result, the water never cools down too much. The energy community owns the grid, produces the heat, and supplies it. This heating is supplied to 222 homes, 2 schools, and 2 office buildings.