How we future-proof district heating networks with a Heat Network Platform
With an explosion of new connections driven by the energy transition and stricter regulations on the horizon, operators of district heating networks are facing significant challenges. Marc de Beijer (Aurum Europe) and Marten-Jan Talens (Circet Nederland) explain how they are addressing these challenges togetherwith a heat network platform: “a smart combination of technology and operations.”
“Today, around 500,000 households are connected to a district heating network, but by 2050 this is expected to grow to around 3 million connections,” says Marc de Beijer. “This means our country is facing a massive capacity expansion in collective heat.”
Marc is CEO of Aurum Europe, which develops hardware and software for collecting and monitoring energy data. With more than 100,000 connected meters and devices, Aurum is the Dutch market leader in billing and energy data for district heating.
What is a district heating network?
A district heating network is an underground system of pipes through which hot water flows, typically residual heat from industry or waste incineration. It is an alternative way to heat homes and provide hot water. Households connected to a district heating network do not require a gas connection.
Accelerating growth and stricter regulations
“The increase in the number of connections is part of the national energy transition, in which natural gas is being phased out step by step,” Marc continues. “Roughly one third of households will switch to heat pumps, one third to district heating and the remainder to green gas from biomass. The exact distribution will depend on technical possibilities and local decision-making.”
On top of this rapid growth, the collective heat act will introduce new obligations for the sector. These include transparent billing, real-time monitoring of consumption data and improved communication with end users. Operators of district heating networks, often smaller local organisations, are therefore facing substantial challenges.
A new service model for the heat sector
Circet Nederland and Aurum Europe aim to tackle these challenges together.
“Aurum has an exceptionally strong technological foundation,” says Marten-Jan Talens, director service and operations at Circet Nederland. “Circet, on the other hand, excels in large-scale service delivery.” Circet is Europe’s largest service provider in telecom and energy infrastructure.
“By combining our expertise, we create a heat network platform that combines data and operations. As demand accelerates, and it will, you can only manage it by offering technology and operations as an integrated service. Together, we provide that end-to-end service, from data collection to fault resolution.”
One integrated chain of intelligence and capacity
“All faults and anomalies detected by Aurum’s software systems will be routed to our Network Operations Center,” Marten-Jan explains about the future collaboration. “Our NOC teams assess urgency and, if needed, dispatch technicians to resolve issues on site.”
This creates a fully integrated service chain, enabling operators to work more efficiently and reducing dependency on limited internal capacity, especially as technical talent is scarce.
“At Circet, we have the people and processes in place to continuously monitor, prioritise and resolve issues professionally,” Marten-Jan adds. “Companies effectively outsource both intelligence and capacity, exactly what the energy market needs today.”
From technical to data-driven operations
Marc adds: “A few large players can organise all of this in-house, but most cannot. That’s why we provide the scale, technology and expertise together. For many district heating operators, heat-as-a-service will be the way to comply with legislation and further professionalise operations without major investments.”
“Real-time consumption data, monthly billing, insight into the performance of individual heat interface units and even predictive maintenance… digitalisation is opening up a completely new world for district heating operators,” Marten-Jan concludes.
“They are shifting from a purely technical service model to a data-driven approach.With our heat network platform, we are ready to support them in that transition.”
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