The Dutch project ‘Transition in Energy and Process for a Sustainable District Development’ focuses on the transition to sustainable, energy neutral districts in 2050, particularly in energy concepts and decision processes.
The main objective of the technical research is to develop four to six innovative energy concepts for 2050 for the four Dutch cities of Almere, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen and Tilburg, as well as the roadmap for realising this target.
Firstly, 14 variations of six general energy concepts have been developed and calculations conducted on the energy neutrality in 2020, 2035 and 2050 by means of an Excel model designed for this purpose.
Three concepts are based on the idea of an energy hub (smart district heating, cooling and electricity networks, in which generation, storage, conversion and exchange of energy are all incorporated): the geo hub (using waste heat and/or geothermal energy), the bio hub (using waste heat and/or biomass) and the solar hub (using only solar energy). The fourth concept is the so-called all-electric concept, based predominantly on heat pumps, PV and conversion of high temperature heat from vacuum collectors to electricity. The fifth concept uses only conventional technologies that have been applied since the second half of the previous century, and the sixth one uses only hydrogen.
Calculations show that by implementing the hub concepts, the energy neutrality in 2050 ranges from 130 % (solar hubs) to 164% (geo hubs), excluding personal transport within the district.
With the all-electric concept, an energy neutrality of 157% can be reached. Hydrogen only and Conventional concepts perform worse, but nevertheless reach an energy neutrality of around 115% in 2050.
The energy neutrality shows the extent to which a district, in which the given concept is implemented, can supply itself with sustainable energy generated within the boundaries of that district.
Based on the six general concepts, the most optimal energy concepts tailored for the involved four cities have been drawn up and elaborated as pilots, in close cooperation with the representatives of the involved municipalities.
The research up to now has shown that it is possible to realise energy neutrality in 2050 by implementing innovative technical concepts on district level. In this approach, different districts have different sustainable energy potentials that have their peak supply at different times. The smart approach therefore is not the autarkic district, but an exchange of surplus sustainable energy with neighbouring districts and import of the same amount of energy in case of a shortage.