Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin
As Germany struggles to meet its near-term emissions reduction targets in lagging sectors like heating or transport, the need to identify energy transition pathways beyond power generation is urgent. This paper presents an investigation of tangible and climate-friendly transformation paths to replac...
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doaj-382a98e9901f45dab6199e9f7467ec5c2020-12-04T00:03:57ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-12-01136394639410.3390/en13236394Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in BerlinMiguel Gonzalez-Salazar0Thomas Langrock1Christoph Koch2Jana Spieß3Alexander Noack4Markus Witt5Michael Ritzau6Armin Michels7Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, 13353 Berlin, GermanyB E T Büro Für Energiewirtschaft und Technische Planung GmbH, 52070 Aachen, GermanyVattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, 13353 Berlin, GermanySenate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection, 10179 Berlin, GermanyVattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, 13353 Berlin, GermanyVattenfall Wärme Berlin AG, 13353 Berlin, GermanyB E T Büro Für Energiewirtschaft und Technische Planung GmbH, 52070 Aachen, GermanyB E T Büro Für Energiewirtschaft und Technische Planung GmbH, 52070 Aachen, GermanyAs Germany struggles to meet its near-term emissions reduction targets in lagging sectors like heating or transport, the need to identify energy transition pathways beyond power generation is urgent. This paper presents an investigation of tangible and climate-friendly transformation paths to replace the existing coal-fired units used for heat and power generation in Berlin with a largely CO<sub>2</sub>-free innovative technology mix. Although the literature has extensively covered the decarbonization of the power generation sector on different geographic scales, few studies have focused on the decarbonization of the heat sector in cities with large district heating networks, like Berlin. This paper aims to fill this gap. The proposed methodology combines three key elements: (1) scenario analysis including high-fidelity models of the European power market and the heat demand in Berlin, (2) evaluation of energy potential from low-carbon alternative sources, and (3) a techno-economic portfolio optimization. The results suggest that a coal phase-out by 2030 is feasible without any discontinuities in the provision of heat. Although low-carbon sources could partially substitute coal-based heat, they would not be sufficient to replace it completely. Thus, a gas-based hydrogen-ready combined heat and power plant linked with a power-to-heat plant would be required to fill the gap.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6394coal phase-outcombined heat and powerdecarbonizationdistrict heatingheat productionpower-to-heat |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Miguel Gonzalez-Salazar Thomas Langrock Christoph Koch Jana Spieß Alexander Noack Markus Witt Michael Ritzau Armin Michels |
spellingShingle |
Miguel Gonzalez-Salazar Thomas Langrock Christoph Koch Jana Spieß Alexander Noack Markus Witt Michael Ritzau Armin Michels Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin Energies coal phase-out combined heat and power decarbonization district heating heat production power-to-heat |
author_facet |
Miguel Gonzalez-Salazar Thomas Langrock Christoph Koch Jana Spieß Alexander Noack Markus Witt Michael Ritzau Armin Michels |
author_sort |
Miguel Gonzalez-Salazar |
title |
Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin |
title_short |
Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin |
title_full |
Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin |
title_fullStr |
Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluation of Energy Transition Pathways to Phase out Coal for District Heating in Berlin |
title_sort |
evaluation of energy transition pathways to phase out coal for district heating in berlin |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Energies |
issn |
1996-1073 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
As Germany struggles to meet its near-term emissions reduction targets in lagging sectors like heating or transport, the need to identify energy transition pathways beyond power generation is urgent. This paper presents an investigation of tangible and climate-friendly transformation paths to replace the existing coal-fired units used for heat and power generation in Berlin with a largely CO<sub>2</sub>-free innovative technology mix. Although the literature has extensively covered the decarbonization of the power generation sector on different geographic scales, few studies have focused on the decarbonization of the heat sector in cities with large district heating networks, like Berlin. This paper aims to fill this gap. The proposed methodology combines three key elements: (1) scenario analysis including high-fidelity models of the European power market and the heat demand in Berlin, (2) evaluation of energy potential from low-carbon alternative sources, and (3) a techno-economic portfolio optimization. The results suggest that a coal phase-out by 2030 is feasible without any discontinuities in the provision of heat. Although low-carbon sources could partially substitute coal-based heat, they would not be sufficient to replace it completely. Thus, a gas-based hydrogen-ready combined heat and power plant linked with a power-to-heat plant would be required to fill the gap. |
topic |
coal phase-out combined heat and power decarbonization district heating heat production power-to-heat |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6394 |
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