Future Trends in District Heating Development

Abstract

Purpose of Review: This article describes challenges that should be overcome towards implementation of low-temperature district heating (LTDH). The trends in development, operational issues, and legislative framework were revised. Recent Findings: The new substation design with solutions to avoid legionella bacteria issue, improved network topology and control strategies, opportunities of LTDH for buildings under various renovation stages and construction year were identified as the most crucial for the transition to 4th generation district heating (DH). Importance of heat load aggregation to avoid peak load issue in the areas with low-energy buildings (LEB) and solutions for transition from high temperature to low temperatures in the DH network have been shown. Summary: The findings indicate that there is a huge potential for achieving low-carbon society and improvement in energy efficiency under transition to LTDH. The solutions for transition from high-temperature DH to LTDH exist; however, they need good policies and market availability to be implemented.