Key Issue 2 - Quantifying the energy delivery of individual RES-H installations
Key Issue 2 aims at developing guidelines for a methodology to measure the energy delivery of individual RES-H installations. In the heating sector, energy measurement is in general less common than in the electricity sector, as most EU citizens living in a multifamily-house with a central heating system know. In large renewable heating systems a direct measurement of the heat produced – and therefore of the conventional fuel saved – is a common feature. In small RES-H systems, this is not the case. For this reasons, policies to promote RES-H, like financial incentives, are often not based on the energy effectively delivered, but on more rough parameters, like for instance m2 of solar collectors installed.
In Key Issue 2, the K4RES-H project strived to develop guidelines for a widely agreed methodology to measure or calculate the energy delivery of individual RES-H installations. Such a methodology will enable policy makers to design policies to promote RES-H based on the desired result in terms of sustainable energy delivered. While Key Issue 1 focuses on the macro level (national statistics), Key Issue 2 focuses on the micro level (individual installation). The outcome of Key Issue 2 strengthens the results of Key Issue 1 by defining a widely agreed methodology to convert statistical data (currently often available in terms of capacity or of number of installations) into data for overall energy delivery of RES-H systems in a certain region or country.
Key Issue 2 is subdivided in 3 subtasks:
Subtask 1: State of the art technologies for measuring energy output of individual RES–H systems
In larger RES-H systems, the measurement of energy delivery is already common standard. This subtask gives a survey of the state of the art of measuring heat delivery in larger systems, looking also at the costs and accuracy of the measuring systems. Following a common methodology developed at the beginning of the project, the survey is performed for each single RES-H technology and, in the final phase of the project, consolidated for RES-H in general.
Subtask 2: Scientific calculation of energy output as an alternative to direct measurement
In smaller RES-H systems, energy delivery is often not measured but can be calculated on the basis of scientific parameters. This subtask proposes sound methods to calculate the energy output of small RES-H systems.
Subtask 3: Cost and benefit analysis of measurement against calculation methods
The goal of this subtask is to answer the question from which the dimension of the RES-H system direct measurement can be reasonably required for the purpose of public policies.
Comparable criteria to tackle this issue in each RES-H technology are going to be developed in the first phase of the project. The consortium defines parameters for evaluating the suitability of the technologies and methodologies. These parameters include:
- Transparency and accuracy
- Additional expenses caused by measurement to the heat producer
- Additional expenses for control and monitoring services
- Cost reduction potential through identification of technical failures through measurement
- Complexity of the selected strategy
- Special favouring and disfavouring aspects
Project results currently available:
Solar Thermal:
Biomass:
Geothermal:
- Measurement of Energy delivery for geothermal systems,
- methodology for calculating the energy delivery of small geothermal systems
- recommendations how to quantify the energy delivery by single geothermal installations
Renewable Heating:
- Guidelines for quantifying the energy delivery of Individual RES-H systems
- Quantification of energy delivery for financial incentives
