Thomas Sandberg

Potential for Small-scale Bio-fueled District Heating and CHPs in Sweden

Publisher Summary This chapter explores the potential for small-scale district heating grid systems that are supplied by small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) fueled by biomass in Sweden. The share of renewable energy is high in the Swedish energy system. In 2001, 177 TWh, or 44% of the total energy consumption in the country, came from renewable sources. In the residential, service, and industrial sectors, this share was as high as 58%. Since 1991, bioenergy has been the largest renewable source in Sweden, and in 2001, 98 TWh was generated from this source. This compares with 79 TWh from hydro and 0.5 TWh from wind. The essence of the method presented in the chapter is to identify clusters of buildings where the heat demand is large enough to justify small grids. This method is used to evaluate the potential of a small region in southeast Sweden and of three counties in different parts of the country. Finally, the results are extrapolated to make a rough estimation of the potential for new district heating systems in the country as a whole and to evaluate the potential generation of electricity from the CHP units.