The impact of the thermal distribution network operating temperature and system design on different communities' energy profiles

The use of heat pumps to increase the flexibility of heating networks is critical for overcoming the intermittent nature of renewable energy. This article introduces a novel thermal network operation strategy, referred to as “Smart Network with Peak Control,” which entails adjusting the network temperature to control the peak electricity demand created by the electrification of heating. A comparison between four different operating scenarios—namely, low-temperature (fourth-generation), ultra-low temperature (fifth-generation), smart network (hybrid of low and ultra-low temperatures), and smart network with peak control—is conducted for different sites of different energy profiles. For heating-dominant sites, the application of the smart network and smart network with peak control resulted in 10% lower emissions than the other scenarios. While the peak electricity demand in the smart network scenario was double that of the conventional system, the smart network with peak control scenario was able to counter this effect by adjusting the network temperature. The effects of integrating combined heat and power with different sizes and operating schedules based on the hours of natural-gas peaking generators in mixed electrical grids were also investigated. The developed model was applied to 1139 sites in Canada, revealing significant carbon emissions reductions of up to 73%.