Overview of National DHC Market

Overview of National DHC Market

Country

Italy



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1. Summary

This report presents an overview of the district heating and cooling sectors in Italy from year 2000 until 2006, the last year for which are available a set of significant data.

The consistence of the district heating (DH) sector is still very small, since it is covering about 2.5% of the global heating needs in Italy.

This is mainly due to the particular climatic condition existing in the country. In fact the northern regions, close to the Alps, and in the mountain areas the winter season is characterized by a mean temperature close or under 0 °C and by a heating period of about 6 months (corresponding to E and F climatic zones from over 2100 to 3000 and above degrees-day). In the central part of the country prevails a 4,5 months winter (D zone with degrees-day over 1400 to 2100). The winter period is further reduced in Southern Italy to 3-4 months (C, B and A climatic zones).

Another element explaining the limited extension of DH sector is the excellent territorial coverage (both North-South and East-West) of the natural gas network and the very high diffusion of domestic heating boilers (more than 14 millions) connected to the gas grid.

In 2006, despite the energetic sector difficulties, significant changes in DH penetration have been acknowledged and a huge increase of DH heated volumes did occur. In particular during the year it was registered an increase of the space volume connected to a heating grid of about 14% (an increase never reached before).

Furthermore, it should be noted that the district cooling sector (DC) is presently very small and that little significant changes are expected in the near future.

In the following tables are reported the increase of the DH connected volume in the last years and the main increments registered until 2008 (source: Italian District HeatinAssociation, AIRU ).

Year

Increase

(M m3)

Global volume

(M m3)

Increase

%

1999

9,1

109,8


2000

7,5

117,3

6,8

2001

8,6

125,9

7,3

2002

6,4

132,3

5,1

2003

7,8

140,1

5,9

2004

4,2

144,4

3,0

2005

11,2

155,6

7,8

2006

21,7

177,3

14,0

2007

21,3

198,7

12,0

2008

13,2

211,9

6,7

In particular DHC situation at the end of 2006 is summarised as follows:

Historical grids

( M m3 )

Other grids

( M m3 )

New grids

( M m3 )

Torino

7,039

Milano Gallarate

1,161

Rivoli

3,918

Brescia

0,988

Sesto San Giovanni

0,618

Settimo Torinese

1,878

Verona

0,459

Parma

0,600

Lodi

1,300

Ferrara

0,216

Bergamo Centro

0,316

Cassano d’Adda

0,907

Mantova

0,211

Tirano

0,306

Morbegno

0,485

Alba

0,182

Voghera

0,168

Bergamo Ovest

0,168

Cremona

0,150



Bergamo Monte Rosso

0,160

Reggio Emilia

0,117



Legnano

0,130





Bomporto

0,100





Bologna San Biagio

0,077

Total

9,363


3,169


9,123

In the previous table are not inserted many small capacity plants feeded with biomass operating in the Bolzano Province ( about 21 plant for a total of 258 GWh ) and in the Trento Province.

During 2007 the following new grids have been implemented

Tonw/Grid

Company

Heated Volume

Cubic meter

Main energy source

1. Rho Polo esterno di Fiera Milano (Mi)

AEM Calore &Servizi

4.500.000

Municipal Solid Waste

2. Saluzzo (CN)

Cofathec Reti

793.630

Cogeneration

3. Rho Nord-Ovest (Mi)

Steam

600.000

Cogeneration

4. Morgex (AO)

Soc. Energ. Aostana

596.000

Biomass

5. Fossano (CN)

EGEA

470.000

Cogeneration

6. Rho Mazzo (Mi)

Comune di Rho

332.000

Cogeneration

7. Pollein (AO)

Soc. Energ. Aostana

300.000

Biomass

8. Pré Saint Didier (AO)

Soc. Energ. Aostana

280.000

Biomass

9. Santa Caterina (SO)

TCVVV

250.400

Biomass

10. Rho S. Martino Lucernate (Mi)

Steam

200.000

Cogeneration

11. Rimini Viserba (RI)

SGR Reti

169.167

Cogeneration

12. Monterotondo marittimo (GR)

Comune di Monterotondo

136.661

Geothermal

13. Piossasco (TO)

Soc. Energ. Piossasco

122.000

Boiler

14. Pero (Mi)

Teleriscaldamento Pero

70.000

Municipal Solid Waste

15. Castel Bolognese (RA)

HERA

60.000

Cogeneration

16. Ravenna Centro (RA)

HERA

45.000

Boiler

17. Ravenna Sud (RA)

HERA

23.600

Boiler

18 Ravenna Bassette (RA)

HERA

23.000

Boiler

Total

8.971.458


The main improvement occurred during year 2007 concerning the existing systems are reported in the following table:

Town/Grid

Heat volume

Grid lenght

Cogeneration plants

(fossil fuels)

New RES plants

Boiler heat

Cubic meter

km

MWe

MWt

MWe

MWt

MWt

1 Torino

3.926.582

10,7

-

-

-

-

255

2 Brescia

1.043.564

15,5

-

-

-

-

-5,0

3 Sesto San Giovanni

898.000

4,4

-

-

-

-

-

4 Legnano-Castellanza

776.250

4,5

6,0

4,8

-

-

18,0

5 Parma

500.000

2,3

-

-

-

-

-

6. Varese

409.600

1,7

-

-

-

-

7,0

7. Casalecchio di Reno

369.733

-

-

-

-

-

-

8. Bologna Fossolo

331.429

0,5

-

-

-

-

-

9. Morbegno-Talamona

315.000

5,0

7,1

7,2

-

-

-

10. Voghera

263.250

3,1

-

-

-

-

10,0

11. Milano Sud

258.000

1,3

-

-

-

-

-

12. Milano Gallaratese

249.820

2,9

-

-

-

-

-

13. Mantova Alba

212.470

5,1

-

-

-

-

-

14. Ferrara

108.002

18,6

-

-

-

-

9,6

15. Reggio Emilia

104.820

6,5

-

-

-

-

1,4

16. Osimo

15.79

0,2

-

-

-

-

9,0

17 Other

2.566.037

52,8

-

-

-

-

10,9

Total increases

12.348.349

135,1

13,1

12,0

-

-

315,9

During 2008 the following new grids have been implemented

Tonw/Grid

Company

Heated Volume

Cubic meter

Plant typology

1. Canale (CN)

EGEA Spa

90.000

(1) 1 x 750 kWe + 1.000 kWt

(3) 3 x 850 kWt

2. Cortemilia (CN)

EGEA Spa

50.000

(1) 2 x 250 kWe + 300 kWt

(3) 2 x 500 kWt

(4) 1 x 300 kWt

3. S.Felice sul Panaro

AIMAG Spa

49.000

(1) 1 x 490 kWe + 700 kWt

(3) 1 x 1500 kWt

4. Piobesi Torinese

Metan Api Energia

12.400

(2) 1 x 70 kWe + 120 kWt

(3) 1 x 650 kWt

Total heated volume

201.400 cm



Total electric power

1.810 kWe



Total thermal power

8.120 MWt



- cogeneration

2.120 MWt



- auxiliary boiler

6.000 MWt



(1) Gas Reciprocating engine

(2) Micro turbine

(3) Gas auxiliary boilers

(4) Waste auxiliary boilers

The main improvement occurred during year 2008 concerning the existing systems are reported in the following table:

Town/Grid

Heat volume

Grid lenght

Cogeneration plants

(fossil fuels)

New RES plants

Cogenerated heat

Waste plants

Cubic meter

km

MWe

MWt

MWe

MWt

MWt

MWt

1 Milano-Tecnocity

1.284.871

0,2







2 Sesto San Giovanni

1.153.496

5,0







3 Brescia

936.699

16,7







4 Legnano

899.775

3,0







5 Milano-Città 2000

687.000

3,9







6 Bergamo Ovest

587.653

6,8






1,8

7 Bologna-Barca

559.510

-







8 Torino

501.597

2,0





260,0


9 Parma

500.000

9,5







10 Imola

157.404

9,3

82,0

80,0





11 Roma

-

-





60,0


12 Mantova

320.000

3,4




-9,7

25,0


13 Alba

4.821

-

20,0

30,0





14 Verona-Forte Procolo

83.942

1,1

6,5

5,9





15 Reggio Emilia - Rete2

342.000

-






18,6

16 Bologna Sede Hera

-

-

4,9

4,0





17 Rovereto

70.231


2,4

2,4





18 Bolzano

-

-

2,7

2,1




28,4

Total 1-18

8.088.999

60,8

118,4

124,4

-

-9,7

345,0

48,8

Other

4.939.578

21,3

-

-

-

-

-

-

Total increases

13.028.577

82,1

118,4

124,4

-

-9,7

345,0

48,8

2. District heating main characteristics

At the end of 2008 the situation of district heating in Italy is mainly characterised by the following data:

Global heated volume (Vol)

211,9,3

M m3

Extension of the heating grid

2.286

km

N° of substations (ST)

38.505


N° of consumers

> 0,55

M

Thermal power to costumers (Pc)

6.257

MWt

Installed electric power

777

MWe

Number of served towns

83


2.1. Costumers installation typology

The type of installation that provides both heating and domestic hot water prevails (about 65%) and this means that the installations in new buildings better fit the district heat pipeline systems.

In the following table gives some key data about the installations and their variations during the years:

Year

Thermal power

(MWt)

Heated Volume

(M m3)

ST

(n°)

Pc/Vol

(W/ m3)

Pc/ST

(kW/ST)

Incremental Pc/ST*

(kW/ST)

2000

3.623

117.3

18.594

31

195

178

2001

3.916

125.9

22.529

31

174

74

2002

4.123

132.4

24.288

31

170

118

2003

4.487

140.2

26.332

32

170

178

2004

4.669

144.4

27.949

32

167

113

2005

5.054

155.6

30.371

32

166

159

2006

5.680

177.3

33.315

32

170

213

2007

6.249

198,7

37.048

31

169

153

2008

6.626

211.9

39.595

31

168

153

*) Value of the incremental thermal power delivered to consumers in the year divided by the incremental number of the substations

The specific thermal power installed per cubic meter doesn’t change, as well as the thermal power installed per substation. The incremental value of the specific thermal power per substation showed a decrease during the last 2 year from 213 kW to 153 kW per substation.

2.2. Territorial distribution of the installations

The development of the DH sector in Italy is concentrated in Northern regions (204,5 Mm3 equal to the 97% of the global heated volume is concentrated in five regions: Lombardia, Piemonte, Emilia Romagna, Veneto e Trentino - Alto Adige.

In the following table is reported the regional distribution of the district heating systems:

Region

Volume 2007

(M m3)

Volume 2008

(M m3)

%

1

Lombardia

88,1

96,0

45,3

2

Piemonte

52,8

54,4

25,7

3

Emilia Romagna

30,7

32,6

15,4

4

Veneto

12,5

12,8

6,0

5

Trentino - A.A.

7,2

7,5

3,6

6

Liguria

2.2

3,4

1,6

7

Lazio

2,3

2,3

1,1

8

Toscana

1

1

0,5

9

Marche

0,6

0,6

0,3

Total

198,7

211,93

100

Total 1-5

192,6

204,5

97

This situation confirms that climatic conditions in the Central and in the Southern regions of Italy are not suitable for the diffusion of a district heating system.

2.3. Plant typology

In the following table is reported the typology, the thermal and electric power of the installed plant: up to the end of 2008

Plant typology

Electric Power

(MWe)

Thermal Power

(MWt)

Cogeneration plant with fossil fuel

747

1.054

Thermoelectric plant


897

Domestic waste plant


309

Thermal plant with biomass


129

Cogeneration plant with biomass

29

58

Heat from industrial process


31

Geothermal plant


41

Heat pumps


5

Auxiliary boilers


1339

Back up boilers


1908

Total

777

5.771

The typology of fossil fuelled cogeneration plant is reported in the following table:

Plant typology

Pe (MWe)

Pt (MWt)

n. of units

Steam turbine

197

440

7

Gas turbine

105

177

12

Combined cycle

256

276

8

Gas reciprocating engine

197

207

98

Diesel reciprocating engine

21,8

10,5

3

Microturbine

0,31

0,65

4

Total

777

1.112

132

2.4. Fuel utilized

In the table is reported the mix of the primary energy utilised in the district heating system:

Fuel typology

Quantity 2005

(toe) %

Quantity 2008

(toe) %

Natural gas (1)

383.521

60,1

680.825

68,4

Coal (1)

69.810

11,1

96,910

9,7

Biomass

72.092

13,0

92.037

9,2

Fuel Oil (1)

79.726

12,7

57.022

5,7

Domestic solid waste

6.708

1,1

55.937

5,6

Geothermal

4.472

0,7

10.232

1

Heat from industrial process

4.644

0,7

2.497

0,3

Fossil fuels Total

533.057

84,5

834.757

84

Renewable energy Total

97.916

15,5

160.704

16

Total

630.970


995.461


(1) Data comprehensive of the major consumption caused by heat taken from thermoelectric power plant.

Since 2006 the methodology for the determination of electrical power of thermoelectric power plant and the evaluation of energy demand has changed, due to the implementation of the 2004/8/EC Cogeneration Directive. The data of the table are reported accordingly.

It is important to observe that natural gas is the most important source of energy; its role increased from 2005 to 2008. Moreover there is only a small increase of renewable energy (from 15.5% to 16% in 2008) mainly due to RSU utilisation. The main role is played by Biomass and by Domestic wastes that reached together the14.8% of the total.

Only a marginal role is covered by Geothermal and by heat derived from industrial process.

2.5. District heat and electricity delivered

In 2008 the plant supplying the district heating in Italy produced 2.464 GWh of electric energy and 7.095 GWht of thermal energy and 102,3 GWh of cooling.

The delivered energy after internal use and losses amounts respectively to 2.286 GWhe and 6.257 GWht and 101,9 GWh of cooling, corresponding respectively to 93,0%, 88% and 99 % of the generated energy.

In the following table are reported the heat generated versus the systems of production for 2008:

Type of production

Thermal energy

(GWht)

%

Cogeneration plant

3.819

53,8

Thermal boiler

2.004

28,2

Renewable source

1.271

17,9

Heat pumps

1,29

0,02

Total

7.095


It is important to consider that the heat from renewable sources (Biomass, Geothermal, domestic wastes) represent a consistent share (17,9 %) of the global. The contribution of thermal boiler (simple combustion) is also noticeable.

It should also be noted that about 72% of the heat is produced from technologies with a low environmental impact.

Moreover, taking into account that the electric power installed in cogenerating power plants is 777 MWe and that the thermal power installed is 3.863 MWt (excluding the thermal power of Back up Plants) the equivalent numbers of operating hours are respectively 3.171 h/year for electricity and 1.837 h/year for heat (58 % of the figure for electricity).

2.6. Energy savings and environmental balances

In 2008 the fossil energy used by the district heating system is reported in the following table:

Fossil primary Energy

Quantity

Energy content

Natural gas

708.3 MNm3c

7.547 GWh

Gasoil

472 t

5,6 GWh

Crude oil

58208 t

562 GWh

Coal

149.150 t

986,5 GWh

Electric energy

93 GWhe

231 GWh

EE-INC (1)

105 GWhe

362 GWh

EE-CTE (2)

233 GWhe

582 GWh

Total


10.176,1 GWh

(1) Decrease of electric production due to heat removal from waste power plants

(2) Decrease of electric production due to heat removal from thermoelectric plants

The net energy delivered from district heating system was:

Thermal energy

6.257 GWht

Cooling energy

101,9 GWht

Electric energy

2.286,0 GWhe

The energetic needs of the substituted system (a conventional system that produce the same amounts of electric and thermal energy) should be:

Natural gas for thermal energy

925 MNm3

7.821 GWh

Mix sources for cooling


85,4 GWh

Mix sources for electric energy


5.715,0 GWh

Total


13.621,4 GWh

In conclusion, the annual saving in primary energy is of 3.445,3 GWh, equivalent to 0,296 Mtoe with a related reduction in CO2 emissions of 0,821 Mt.

The evaluation of energy saving and the reduction in CO2 emissions was done with these assumptions:

- Electric efficiency of the system substituted: 0,4

- Thermal efficiency of boilers substituted: 0,8

- COP of heat pumps substituted: 3,0

Specific emissions of CO2:

- Natural Gas 1,937 kg CO2/Nm3

- Gas oil 3,170 kg CO2/kg

- Fuel Oil 3,204 kg CO2/kg

- Coal 2,564 kg CO2/kg

- Electric system substituted 0,662 kg CO2/kWhe

3. District cooling main characteristics

At the end of 2008 the distributed production of refrigerated water through absorption coolers based on district heating accounted for 95 installed groups equivalent to 93,0 MWt .

The centralised production and distribution of cooled water amounted to 51,3 MWt.

The total installed cooling capacity was 144,3 MW and the corresponding energy supplied to the consumers was about 101,9 GWh (about 1,6 % of the thermal energy supplied).

It is interesting to note that the equivalent running hours was of about 700 h/year, a value too low to justify the cost of the installation.

4. 2006 Statistics and comparison with previous years

Year


1995

2000

2005

2008

Town heated

N°

27

27

57

83

Systems owners

N°

25

25

40

46

Number of grids

N°

45

53

87

120

- Hot water

N°

26

27

55

77

- Superheated water

N°

17

22

23

35

- Steam

N°

2

4

9

8

Global heated volume

Mm3

74

117

156

212

Thermal power

MWt

1.331

2.248

3.035

3.863

Electrical power in cogeneration

MWe

466

507

649

777

Thermal energy supplied to costumers

GWht

2.687

3.854

5.500

6257

- From renewables

%

6

12

17

18

- From cogeneration (fossil fuel)

%

76

66

57

54

- Simple production (boilers)

%

18

22

26

28

Electrical energy to the grid

GWhe

1.671

1.932

2.235

2.286

Length of distribution grid

km

648

1.091

1.667

2.259

N° of Substations

N°

10.148

18.594

30.371

39.505

Energy savings

toe

125.930

197.923

239.293

296.575

Reduction of CO2 emissions

t

380.970

599.134

692.871

821.516


5. Concluding remarks

From the presented data it can be drawn the following considerations

§ In Italy district heating is mainly concentrated in northern regions and covers about 2,5% of the global heat demand

§ The penetration of district heating showed an increasing trend, with an increase in 2008 of about 20% with respect to 2006. The overall heated volume is about 211,9 Mm3 and a length of the heat grid of about 2.259 km

§ Primary fossil fuels represents the main energetic source with a share of 82 %, of which natural gas plays the key role. The renewable contribution covers the remaining 18 %, the main sources being biomasses and domestic wastes

§ The installed electrical power of CHP was of 777 MWe. The corresponding energy delivered to the electrical grid was respectively 2.286 GWhe. The equivalent full load operation hours for CHP plants were 3.171 h/year

§ The global thermal power installed, without considering the back up boilers, was of 3.863 MWt and the thermal energy delivered to the grid reached 7.095 GWh. The equivalent full load operation hours were therefore 1.837 hours/year.

§ The thermal losses of the heat distribution system was about 12 %

§ The estimated energy savings of the global Italian DH system amounted to 0,296 Mtoe (about 0,14% of Italian global energy demand) with a consequent reduction of 0,821 Mt of CO2 (about 0,15% of Italian global CO2 emissions)

§ District cooling plays in Italy a marginal role, representing only 1,6 % of DH.