Search

District heating and cooling systems can aid in decarbonisation and the provision of efficient heating and cooling in Europe. However, whereas these systems have achieved high penetration rates in colder climates of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, they remain marginal in milder climates of Southern Europe. In terms of network design, district heating and cooling systems can be configured in different ways. In so-called warm networks, the required temperature for all the consumers is attained city-wide, and in so-called cold systems, the necessary temperature is achieved at the consumers' premises by ancillary equipment. The most cost-effective heating and cooling solution for urban areas requires investigation. This research models and compares cold and warm district energy systems with other heating and cooling solutions through a comprehensive case study executed in the city of Bilbao, Spain. The city is characterised by a mild climate and a high population density which is characteristic of many Southern European cities. The results show that district energy systems are economically advantageous compared to other low-carbon solutions, such as air-source heat pumps. However, these systems are not able to outcompete natural gas under current cost and taxation levels. Warm networks provide a cheaper source of heat compared to cold networks, but both network types lead to similar expenditures for combined heating and cooling supply. This paper, presents the study context and its results, and is complemented by an exhaustive detailed methodology document and a separate supplementary material repository. © 2024 The Authors, Decarb City Pipes 2050 - Transition roadmaps to energy efficient, zero-carbon urban heating and cooling

The global shift towards renewable energy necessitates careful planning and integration strategies, especially in regions like Eritrea, which have abundant solar and wind resources but limited grid infrastructure. This study explores strategies for maximizing direct renewable energy consumption by incorporating residential photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy into Eritrea's electricity grid. Our research offers a unique approach by proposing tailored grid expansion and management strategies to maximize renewable integration, specifically designed for the context of developing countries like Eritrea, addressing the specific challenges posed by limited infrastructure and data availability. By analyzing historical data and using simulation techniques, the study explored the ideal deployment of PV and battery storage systems to maximize penetration while minimizing curtailment, using a straightforward algorithm for PV injection, battery charging, and discharging for each hour of the year. Key findings reveal that imposing feed-in limit and integrating battery storage significantly reduce curtailment, with a feed-in limit of 0.4 to 0.5 kW/kWp and battery storage below 2 kWh/kWp yielding best results. The analysis also highlights the trade-off between installing additional PV capacity and battery capacity, especially at lower renewable capacity levels. In certain scenarios it is found that curtailment is preferred over storage, particularly at lower PV capacities. The study emphasizes the crucial role of storage utilization and balancing generators in maintaining grid stability during adverse weather and peak demand. These insights provide valuable guidance for policymakers and grid planners to advance sustainable energy strategies and achieve ambitious renewable energy targets in Eritrea. © 2024 The Author(s)

The ongoing transformation in European district heating systems fromthe usage of fossil-based technologies to non-fossil heat supplies issummarised by a collection of 70 possibilities linked to decarbonisation. These possibilities are exemplified by 284 implemented, planned, orproposed cases. The 70 possibilities for decarbonised district heatinginclude using heat, connecting customers, moving heat, storing heat, removing carbon dioxide, and supplying heat together with somefeatures for the entire value chain, to heat usage from heat generation orrecycling. This collection of 70 possibilities is neither complete nor doesit contain any recommendations for the possibilities or advocate forspecific possibilities. The purpose of this project was to provide an extensive inventory ofdecarbonisation activities recently performed by district heating operators andother heat suppliers. These decarbonisation activities include the directsubstitution of heat obtained from the combustion of fossil fuels and indirectactions for obtaining more efficient district heating systems. These indirect actionsreduce costs and increase revenue, thereby improving the competitiveness ofdistrict heating. The time horizon, which is linked to the EU’s target for thereduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels, is 2030. This inventory of early decarbonisation projects concerning district heatingsystems has revealed the following three key conclusions. First, decarbonisation activities can be divided into substituting and supportingpossibilities. Substituting possibilities in heat supply include linear supply fromrenewables, heat recycling from processes that generate excess heat, and non-fossilways of meeting peak heat demands during very cold days. The linear heat supplyis based on geothermal heat, solar heat, and electricity supply. Heat recycling ispossible from various processes related to biorefineries, hydrogen supply, petrochemical plants, electricity distribution

Den pågående omvandlingen av europeiska fjärrvärmesystem från användning av fossilbaserad teknik till icke-fossil värmeförsörjning sammanfattas med en utvald samling av 70 möjligheter kopplade till fossilfrihet. Dessa möjligheter exemplifieras med 284 genomförda, planerade eller föreslagna fall. De 70 möjligheterna för koldioxidfri fjärrvärme omfattar att använda värme, ansluta kunder, flytta värme, lagra värme, avskilja koldioxid och tillföra värme tillsammans med några aspekter för hela värdekedjan till värmeanvändning från värmeåtervinning eller värmegenerering. Uppsättningen av 70 möjligheter är varken komplett eller innehåller några rekommendationer för vilka möjligheter som bör användas. Syftet med detta projekt har varit att tillhandahålla en omfattande inventering av tidiga aktiviteter för att erhålla fossilfri fjärrvärme som nyligen utförts av fjärrvärmeföretag eller andra värmeaktörer. Dessa aktiviteter omfattar både direkt substitution av värme som tidigare erhållits från förbränning av fossila bränslen och stödjande indirekta åtgärder för att erhålla mer effektiva fjärrvärmesystem. Dessa stödjande åtgärder minskar kostnaderna eller ökar intäkterna som förbättrar fjärrvärmens konkurrenskraft. Tidshorisonten har varit 2030, kopplat till EU:s mål för minskning av växthusgasutsläppen med 55 % jämfört med 1990 års utsläpp. Denna inventering av tidiga projekt för fossilfri fjärrvärme har givit följande tre viktiga slutsatser. För det första, aktiviteter för fossilfri fjärrvärme kan delas in i ersättande och stödjande möjligheter. Ersättande möjligheter i värmeförsörjningen inkluderar linjär försörjning från förnybar energi, värmeåtervinning från processer som genererar restvärme och icke-fossila sätt att möta spetsbehov under mycket kalla dagar. Den linjära värmeförsörjningen baseras på geotermisk värme, solvärme och eltillförsel. Nya aktiviteter för värmeåtervinning är möjliga från många olika samhällsprocesser, såsom bioraffinaderier, vätgasförsörjning, petr

Wind power only received occasional attention since the introduction of electricity until the 1970s, when a revived interest in alternativeenergy sources spurred the development thread that led to today’s wind turbines. Although attention and financial support at thetime were directed toward government-funded MW-scale wind turbines, the small models developed in the late 1970s for the Danishmarket were ultimately the way forward. The wind industry has since matured, as evidenced by the lower specific power and highercapacity factors of recent turbine models and the similarity between their power curve shapes. Moreover, this study highlights two historicalaccomplishments by Europeans that are sometimes incorrectly credited to Americans: the first wind turbine to generate electricitywas built in 1883 by Austrian Josef Friedländer and the Danish Agricco (1919) became the first public grid-connected windturbine. © The Author(s) 2024

Wind power received sporadic interest after the breakthrough of electricity in the late 1800s, but was sidelined by other electricity generation technologies until the 1970s. A renewed interest in alternative energy sources during the 1970s spurred the development of wind turbines, which gradually evolved into the modern large wind turbines. Whereas significant attention and financial support were focused on government-funded multi-MW prototypes, the small wind turbines developed for the Danish market in the late 1970s proved to be the template for future development. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

The transition to a more sustainable energy system with a growing amount of intermittent renewable energy sources brings an increasing need for flexibility measures to maintain balance between supply and demand. Buildings represent a promising source of demand-side flexibility due to their large energy demand and thermal mass. This review provides insights into the storage potential of building thermal mass, and the benefits and challenges it brings. It is found that building thermal mass storage have good ability to shift loads on short term, from peak to off-peak hours. This ability can be utilized for different purposes, for instance reduced costs for end-users or energy providers, reduced primary energy demand, or reduced CO2 emissions. Furthermore, this review explores different factors that influence the storage potential of building thermal mass, with special attention paid to the heat emission system. It is shown that hydronic floor heating is beneficial compared to radiators since it directly can activate the thermal mass with smaller impact on the indoor temperature. It is also found that the factor with largest impact is the envelope insulation level; increased insulation level brings improved storage efficiency and prolonged thermal autonomy but also decreased storage capacity and increased risk of overheating. Finally, research gaps are identified. © 2023 The Authors

District heating is one of the technologies that can contribute to the decarbonisation of the European heat sector. Nonetheless, these infrastructures only deliver about a tenth of the heat demands in the continent. Therefore, it is essential to assess the expansion potential of these systems and to identify which areas should be target for further investigations, which calls for easy-to-use and straightforward methods such as Persson & Werner's network capital cost model. Pivotal parameters of the model are the effective width, a metric of trench length by land area, alongside the average pipe diameter and the linear heat density. This study has carried out an in-depth analysis of these crucial parameters with respect to both distribution and service pipes in a large Danish district heating network, which has allowed to explore the behaviour of effective width in a broad range of building densities and derive new equations for both effective width and average pipe diameter. The model has subsequently been validated in another large network in Denmark and several minor districts in the same country, showing the accuracy of the model on an aggregated level. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd.

We review the development of wind turbines for generating electricity from the late 19th century to the present, summarizing some key characteristics. We trace the move from two and four blade wind turbines to the three blades common today. We establish that it was not the governmental-funded wind programs with its large-scale prototypes of the 1970–80s that developed into the commercial turbines of today. Instead, it was the small-scale Danish wind turbines, developed for an agricultural market, that developed into the commercial turbines of today. And we show that much of what we know today about wind turbine design was known by the 1930s and certainly well known by the late 1950s. This work is divided into two parts: the first part takes up the development from the first electricity producing wind turbines through to the 1960s and a second part on development from the 1970s onward. © The Author(s) 2022.

We review the development of wind turbines for generating electricity from the late 19th century to the present, summarizing some key characteristics. We trace the move from two to four blade wind turbines to the three blades common today. We establish that it was not the governmental-funded wind programs with its large-scale prototypes of the 1970–80s that developed into the commercial turbines of today. Instead it was the small-scale Danish wind turbines, developed for an agricultural market, that developed into the commercial turbines of today. And we show that much of what we know today about wind turbine design was known by the 1930s and certainly well known by the late 1950s. This work is divided into two parts: the first part takes up the development from the first electricity producing wind turbines through to the 1960s and a second part on development from the 1970s onward. © The Author(s) 2022.

A simple model for accounting for tower mass when estimating the first-mode eigenfrequency of a semi-guy-wired tower has been derived. This extends previous work where an analytical model of the semi-guy-wired tower of a 200-kW vertical-axis wind turbine was developed. The model was primarily used to estimate the eigenfrequencies as a result of adding guy wires to a free-standing tower (thus creating a semi-guy-wired setup). However, a weakness with the model was that the tower mass was accounted for in a rough way that essentially ignored the guy wires, which gave a larger-than-necessary error. In this work, an effective top mass, that takes into account the tower mass and the constraints from the guy wires, is derived to achieve a higher accuracy when estimating the first-mode eigenfrequency. This, together with the earlier models, gives a more complete method to estimate the eigenfrequencies for a semi-guy-wired wind turbine. © The Author(s) 2019.

In this study, the sizing of primary side components for preparation of domestic hot water are analysed, both qualitatively and based on measurements of domestic hot water demand in one multi-family building with 268 apartments. The collected data spans a period of 18 days during the end of 2020 and is collected in 15-min, 1-min, and 6-s intervals. An overview of the historic development for the design of domestic hot water flow in Sweden is also presented. There is a long-standing argument in Sweden, that the current district heating guidelines result in an overdesign of the flow for domestic hot water. The consequence of this is oversizing heat exchangers and valves in the substations. This study assesses, qualitatively, the issues related to overdesigned primary side valves for preparation of domestic hot water. A revised design for domestic hot water flow for the Swedish context is also conceptualised. The study suggests that an improved design flow for domestic hot water in multi-family buildings can be derived based on empirical measurements. The 15-min intervals are observed to tone down information of peaks to a degree where it is unsuitable to use as basis for a new design flow. The 1-min data does appear to preserve information to a degree where it can be used to assess a design flow when related to data with a 6-s interval. The 6-s data is expected to constitute a resolution that may be less available, and in this study, it constitutes a representation of the real domestic hot water demands. However, to find a fitted curve to empirical data, for the design flow based on number of apartments per multi-family building, the population of datasets needs to be increased. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd., Funding: Energiforsk (grant no. KVU63022), Real domestic hot water flows in multi-family buildings

Based on data from 2083 wind turbines installed in Sweden from 1988 onwards, the accuracy of the predictions of the annual energy production (AEP) from the project planning phases has been compared to the actual wind-index-corrected production. Both the electricity production and the predicted AEP come from Vindstat, a database that collects information directly from wind turbine owners. The mean error for all analyzed wind turbines was 13.0%, which means that, overall, the predicted AEP has been overestimated. There has been an improvement of accuracy with time with an overestimation of 8.2% for wind turbines installed in the 2010s, however, the continuous improvement seems to have stagnated around 2005 despite better data availability and continuous refinement of methods. Dividing the results by terrain, the error is larger for wind turbines in open and flat terrain than in forest areas, indicating that the reason behind the error is not the higher complexity of the forest terrain. Also, there is no apparent increase of error with wind farm size which could have been expected if wind farm blockage effect was a main reason for the overestimations. Besides inaccurate AEP predictions, a higher-than-expected performance decline due to inadequate maintenance of the wind turbines may be a reason behind the AEP overestimations. The main sources of error are insecurity regarding the source of AEP predictions and the omission of mid-life alterations of rated power. © 2021 by the authors.

This paper presents the wind energy potential and wind characteristics for 25 wind sites in Eritrea, based on wind data from the years 2000–2005. The studied sites are distributed all over Eritrea, but can roughly be divided into three regions: coastal region, western lowlands, and central highlands. The coastal region sites have the highest potential for wind power. An uncertainty, due to extrapolating the wind speed from the 10-m measurements, should be noted. The year to year variations are typically small and, for the sites deemed as suitable for wind power, the seasonal variations are most prominent in the coastal region with a peak during the period November–March. Moreover, Weibull parameters, prevailing wind direction, and wind power density recalculated for 100 m above ground are presented for all 25 sites. Comparing the results to values from the web-based, large-scale dataset, the Global Wind Atlas (GWA), both mean wind speed and wind power density are typically higher for the measurements. The difference is especially large for the more complex-terrain central highland sites where GWA results are also likely to be more uncertain. The result of this study can be used to make preliminary assessments on possible power production potential at the given sites. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This paper summarizes and introduces all vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) projects where 100 kW or larger turbines have been installed. The basis for the review is both existing literature and personal correspondence with people once involved in the different developments. By citing the most relevant work for each project, the paper will also work as an information hub, making information on these projects more accessible. Since the 1970s, there have been several VAWT projects with installed turbines of significant size, either as attempts to commercialize VAWTs, or as university led research projects, or as a combination of the two. Most have involved Darrieus turbines built in North America during the 1980s. However, H-rotors, which have always been a favored concept in Europe, have seen a revival during the 2010s. The reason VAWTs have never fully challenged the success of the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) is too broad a question to answer here. However, the reasons some VAWT projects have failed are addressed in this paper. Besides the fact that many of the prototypes had terminal failures, most of the installed medium or large-scale VAWTs have to some extent had problems with metal fatigue and durability. Additionally, a lack of long-term interest from governmental or private funders, as well as the introduction of reliable HAWTs, was a recurring theme from those involved in VAWT development, regarding the reason VAWTs so far have failed to succeed. © 2018 The Author(s)

Models of inflow-turbulence noise and turbulent-boundary-layer trailing-edge noise are compared to earlier measurements of a 200-kW vertical axis wind turbine so that conclusions regarding the origin of the aerodynamic noise can be drawn. The measurement campaigns, which aimed at establishing the noise emission value and locating the aerodynamic noise sources with a microphone array, are here both compared to further modified versions of the trailing-edge and inflow-turbulence models respectively. Unlike the case for horizontal axis wind turbine, inflow-turbulence noise is deemed as the prevailing noise mechanism. Reducing the self-induced turbulence could then be an effective way of lowering the noise levels for vertical axis wind turbines. Also, looking at the directivity of the inflow-turbulence noise model which indicate most noise in the cross-wind directions, a deviation from the standard downwind measurement position for measuring noise emission is suggested for the VAWT case.

Alongside the story of today’s commercially successful, propeller-type, horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT), there is the lesser known story of the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). Once seen as a competitor in setting the standard for wind turbine design, utility-scale VAWTs have become a more and more unusual sight. However, utility-scale VAWT prototypes do from time to time still appear as attempts are made to establish vertical axis technology in a market totally dominated by horizontal axis machines. This is a retrospective survey of utility-scale VAWT projects, with turbines of 100 kW or more.

Noise levels emitted from a 200 kW H-rotor vertical-axis wind turbine have been measured using a microphone array at four different positions, each at a hub-height distance from the tower. The microphone array, comprising 48 microphones in a spiral pattern, allows for directional mapping of the noise sources in the range of 500 Hz to 4 kHz. The produced images indicate that most of the noise is generated in a narrow azimuth-angle range, compatible with the location where increased turbulence is known to be present in the flow, as a result of the previous passage of a blade and its support arms. It is also shown that a semi-empirical model for inflow-turbulence noise seems to produce noise levels of the correct order of magnitude, based on the amount of turbulence that could be expected from power extraction considerations.

The noise emission from a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) has been investigated. A noise measurement campaign on a 200 kW straight-bladed VAWT has been conducted, and the result has been compared to a semi-empirical model for turbulent-boundary-layer trailing edge (TBL-TE) noise. The noise emission from the wind turbine was measured, at wind speed 8 m/s, 10 m above ground, to 96.2 dBA. At this wind speed, the turbine was stalling as it was run at a tip speed lower than optimal due to constructional constraints. The noise emission at a wind speed of 6 m/s, 10 m above ground was measured while operating at optimum tip speed and was found to be 94.1 dBA. A comparison with similar size horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) indicates a noise emission at the absolute bottom of the range. Furthermore, it is clear from the analysis that the turbulent-boundary-layer trailing-edge noise, as modeled here, is much lower than the measured levels, which suggests that other mechanisms are likely to be important, such as inflow turbulence.

The directivity of wind turbine noise is of widespread interest and has received attention over an extended period. The reason for this is partly that noise optimization procedures can be implemented in order to increase the efficiency of the power output. Although directivity of horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) are well understood, the directivity pattern around vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are less well investigated.This paper presents measurements of directivity on a 200 kW VAWT, a so called H-rotor, with variable speed and a tower height of 40 m. The turbine, which is situated in a flat agricultural landscape close to Falkenberg at the Swedish west coast, is one of the world’s largest today operational VAWTs. Experimental results as well as a theoretical model based on the turbulent-boundary-layer trailing-edge (TBL-TE) noise suggest higher noise levels upwind of the rotor and the lowest noise levels in the perpendicular directions. Moreover, modulation analysis of the measurements indicates the presence of modulations but the results are inconclusive.

Initial noise measurements were performed on a 200kW vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and results were compared to that of a Vestas V27, a similar size horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). Multiple recording units were placed in line downwind of the turbine to investigate noise propagation. The frequency distribution of the noise were analyzed indicating that the VAWT has lower relative levels for frequencies under 3000 Hz, especially within 600-1200 Hz. Furthermore, VAWT noise seems to occur more around the same frequencies as the natural background noise, increasing masking probability. Results from propagation measurements seemed to indicate that noise declines more rapidly with distance for the VAWT then for the reference HAWT, possibly explained by the lower levels at low frequencies. Further investigation is needed to establish these differences and the 200 kW VAWT creates an opportunity doing so utilizing arguably the largest operational VAWT existing today.

Eigen frequencies of a vertical axis wind turbine tower made out of laminated wood which are both bolted to the ground and supported by guy wires are studied and compared. Using beam theory, an analytical model taking the guy wires into account for calculating the first mode eigen frequency of the tower has been derived. The analytical model is then evaluated by comparing with FEM-simulations and measurements performed on the actual tower. The model is found to be reasonably accurate keeping in mind that the estimated masses and second moments of area are somewhat rough. Furthermore the model can be used to give an indication of the magnitude of change in eigen frequency when modifying a tower or guy wire property.

Resonance analysis for a vertical axis wind turbine is performed. The turbine may be described as semi-guy wired, being bolted stiffly to the ground as well as supported by guy wires. The influence of the first mode eigen frequency of the guy wires and how it is affected by wind load is examined. Using beam theory, an analytical model for calculating the first mode eigen frequency of the guy wire for different wind loads is derived. The analytical model is verified with FEM-simulations and then used to assemble a diagram showing how to combine the wire size, inclination angle and pre-tension for an eigen frequency range over the 3P load for nominal rotational speed and for a certain effective spring force acting on the tower. This diagram, here called an EA-T diagram, may be used as a quick tool for comparing wire setups and a similar diagram can be used for other guy wired structures.