The electrification of district heating challenges the durability of the urban grids
Combined heat and power production in power plants will decrease significantly in the near future due to climate targets. Climate targets drive energy companies to phase out heat produced by burning at an accelerating rate. According to Finnish Energy, in 2023, 26% of district heating was produced using peat, coal, natural gas and oil. In the future, heat will not be produced by burning fossil fuels but increasingly using clean electricity (heat pumps and electric boilers, as well as the waste heat from data centers and, in the future, from hydrogen production).
In 2023, electric boilers already produced 710 GWh of heat, which is a large and rapid change. In 2022, the corresponding figure was less than 100 GWh. A large proportion of electric boilers are connected to distribution grids.
Heat pumps increase electricity consumption
The number of different kinds of heat pumps is increasing both in properties and in district heating. The carbon-neutral district heating of the future will utilize society’s waste heat and ambient heat with the help of heat pumps. From an environmental perspective, the electrification of heating is excellent, because it improves energy efficiency.
Electric heating traditionally refers to either direct or storing electric heating. Air source heat pumps and ground heat are also electric heating, and they can use electricity to utilize low ambient temperatures to produce heat and cooling. Currently, there are nearly 1.5 million heat pumps in Finland. The growth prospects are quite dramatic. According to Sulpu, the Finnish Heat Pump Association, Finnish investments in heat pumps during this decade will amount to around EUR 10 billion, and heat pumps will cover as much as 30% of the heating needs of buildings.
For electricity grids, this development means that the consumption peak during cold winters will grow. Electricity grids are traditionally dimensioned according to the winter consumption peaks so that there is enough heat for everyone.
