Assessment methodology for urban excess heat recovery solutions in energy-efficient District Heating Networks

Abstract A large amount of low-temperature urban excess heat sources are available to play a fundamental role in the decarbonisation of the heating sector and the present and future of District Heating Networks (DHNs). This work, in the context of the ReUseHeat project, defines a performance assessment procedure applied to four advanced heat recovery solutions from data centres, hospital cooling systems, sewage water networks and underground stations. Key Performance Indicators are defined to allow for integral evaluation in line with the Smart Cities Information System guidelines. The proposed methodology will sustain reliable demonstration results and facilitate replication towards more energy-efficient DHNs.