13.05.2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
A transnational research project highlights the contribution heat pumps can make to making the electricity grid more flexible.
How well do many decentralized heat pumps work together in electricity supply systems? The International Energy Agency (IEA) investigated this question in a three-year research project. Scientists at a total of 28 locations in Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany looked at the flexible and grid-friendly operation of heat pumps.
Information for practical application: "Best practices for technical operation and the regulatory framework can be derived from the results", according to the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology (IEE). The Kassel-based institute was involved in the project from the German side together with its sister institute for solar energy systems ISE in Freiburg.
"Heat pumps fit well into a climate-neutral energy system, as they can be operated in such a way that they adapt to the electricity supply. They can be switched on when the sun and wind are supplying sufficient electricity thanks to a central grid-friendly control system," says IEE researcher Dietrich Schmidt. "In this way, they help to smooth out load and generation peaks in the power grid. This flexibility is an important component of a future energy system," concludes the thermal energy system technology expert.
Framework conditions for business models
The two Fraunhofer Institutes use project examples in Berlin, Mannheim, Rosenheim, Neuburg an der Donau, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe to show how heat pumps can be operated in a way that serves the grid and what efficiency gains are possible as a result. In Karlsruhe, for example, multi-family houses from the 1960s were renovated to make them more energy-efficient and equipped with photovoltaics, heat pumps and storage systems. As a result, CO2 emissions were reduced by 28 percent.
The international research project also looked at the different framework conditions for business models in the various European countries: "In Denmark and Sweden, a large number of households already have heating with heat pumps. The experience there shows how flexibly the heating sector can function," reports Axel Oliva from Fraunhofer ISE. "Case studies from the Netherlands show particularly impressively how smart operation of heat pumps can reduce peak loads in the grid."
The experts see great potential for additional flexibility in the electricity sector in the widespread replacement of old heating systems. "The concern that the operation of heat pumps will overload the electricity grid is unfounded if they are controlled in a grid-friendly manner," summarizes Axel Oliva.
The results are documented in the publications of the IEA HPT Annex 57 project.
Author: Manfred Fischer
Accessibility
Language
