District Heating
District heating
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District heating systems
To save primary energy and increase energy efficiency, the HERA Group, in line with its mission of sustainable development, is highly committed to designing district heating plants capable of combining cutting edge technology with environmental protection. To make a project “sustainable” from the very start, the first step is to complete a full mapping of the users that could be potentially connected, with possible upgrades of areas not in use or to be restored. This evaluation makes it possible to optimise the distribution grid, while also satisfying the needs of the system, users and the environment.
After the user analysis, the study moves on to energy resources present in the local community. The heat provided by an efficient district heating system makes it possible to:
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make efficient use of renewable sources (e.g., geothermal energy);
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increase energy efficiency (e.g., with the recovery of process thermal energy);
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promote innovative technological supply chains;
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protect the environment by reducing polluting and climate-altering emissions.
In this manner, a balanced and efficient system is created, which is always aligned with the requirements of users and continuous improvements that can be enacted to mitigate environmental impacts.
It is easy to see that district heating systems will spread rapidly throughout Europe: indeed, the objectives established by the European Union require rather considerable energy saving and efficiency policies, and one of the key ways of reaching these targets is the implementation of district heating in light of the significant possibilities it provides for saving primary energy (not yet sufficiently exploited in the EU).
Source: SR 2023
The numbers
District heating: energy sold and volume served |
2023 |
Thermal energy sold (MWh) |
406.634 |
Volumes served (thousands of m3) |
23.312 |
Housing unit equivalents served (no.) |
97.135 |
*The housing unit equivalents served were calculated on the basis of an average apartment volume of 240 m3. Excluding AcegasApsAmga.
Plants
9 District heating systems:
Cogen-Barca, Ecocity (Casalecchio), Navile, CAAB-Pilastro (Granarolo), Fossolo, Sede-S.Giacomo, Castelmaggiore, S.Biagio (Casalecchio)
Total installed capacity 308 MWt
Recovery from WTE 28 MWt
Recovery from wastewater treatment plant 2 MWt
Cogeneration and Berti Site PdC 13 MWt
Cogeneration and Natural gas boilers 265 MWt
Ferrara System
Total installed capacity 133 MWt
Geothermics (14 MWt)
Recovery from WTE (30 MWt)
Supplementary heating plants and natural gas reserve (89 MWt)
Forlì, Forlì Campus, Cesena Ippodromo and Cesena Bufalini Total installed capacity
Total installed capacity 93 MWt
Forlì 34 MW:
Recovery from WTE (Forlì WTE) (22 MWt)
Natural gas boilers (Forlì WTE) (14 MWt)
Recovery from solar thermal source (0,5 MWt)
Forlì Campus - Centro 17 MWt:
Cogeneration and natural gas boilers
Sistema Cesena Ippodromo 19 MWt:
Cogeneration and natural gas boilers
Cesena Bufalini System (including steam) 20 MWt:
Cogeneration and natural gas boilers
FMI (ex FCS, Forlì Città Solare) 0.7 MWt
Maximum installed capacity 165 MWt
Imola System 159 MWt:
Casalegno Combined Cycle Cogeneration Plant (80 MWt cogeneration cycle and 46 MWt reserve boilers)
Other heating plants (33 MWt)
Castel Bolognese System 3 MWt:
Cogeneration and natural gas boilers
Faenza System 3 MWt:
Natural gas boilers
3 District heating systems:
Quartiere Giardino, III Peep, Ex Livestock Market
Max installed capacity 37 MWt
Quartiere Giardino System (27 MWt): Cogeneration and gas boilers
III Peep System (7 MWt): Cogeneration and gas boilers
Ex Livestock Market system (3 MWt): Gas boilers
Ravenna system
System powered by natural gas boilers:
Max. installed capacity 1 MWt
Page update 16 May 2024