More detail for a concrete heat transition
Provinsje Fryslân aims to become Europe's leading aquathermal province. By 2030, 60,000 homes and 10,000 non-residential buildings are to be connected to heat networks supplied by aquathermal energy. Earlier studies had already indicated that a large part of the province could be heated with warmth from surface water. However, those studies used static calculations and did not link water bodies to local heat demand. For municipalities and project developers, one question remained open: how much heat can actually be extracted at a specific location?
Dynamic simulation of source potential
EXTRAQT calculated the source potential of each water body using a dynamic simulation. It takes into account the natural regeneration of heat, differences in water depth, mixing within the water body, seasonal heat profiles, and both local and cumulative impacts. The study follows the Dutch cold-water discharge framework (Kader koudelozing 2.0), applied by Wetterskip Fryslân, as closely as possible. Because that framework does not yet include guidelines for the cumulative effect of multiple installations on connected water bodies, we added this effect to the simulations. This makes the results more realistic and more applicable at the local level.
From source potential to feasible potential
The simulations show that Fryslân has a total source potential of around 222% of the province's heat demand. However, many heat consumers are located in densely populated areas with relatively little source potential, while elsewhere large amounts of heat go unused. The available heat was therefore allocated locally to nearby consumers using an allocation key. This key considers the distance to water, heat demand density, the energy poverty index, physical obstacles such as railways or nature areas, and the type of connection (individual or via a heat network). The result: around 30% of Frisian heat demand can realistically be met with aquathermal energy, even without coupling to aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES).
An atlas to put into practice
All results are brought together in an interactive map tool with three sections:
- Sources (Bronnen): for each water body, and when zoomed in for each calculation cell, the source potential, average cooling and utilisation rate, including the temperature development over time.
- Consumers (Afnemers): for each municipality or neighbourhood, the heat demand, heat received and heat demand density, based on the Frisian heat atlas.
- Boundary conditions (Randvoorwaarden): the factors behind the allocation key, such as obstacles, distance to water and energy poverty.
This allows municipalities, grid operators and project initiators to assess, down to neighbourhood level, whether aquathermal energy is a feasible option for their project.
Curious what aquathermal energy could mean for your municipality or project? Explore the results yourself in the Aquathermal Energy Atlas Fryslân.
