How to scale heating and cooling demonstrator projects
D2Grids Project
Scaling is essential, but also very challenging. Learn more about recommendations and frameworks that will help you successfully scale your heating and cooling demonstrator projects.
As indicated by the many successful demonstrator projects within Celsius, there are many technical solutions that would provide a positive and sustainable impact if they were scaled and replicated. However, it is not easy to go from an innovative but fairly small demonstrator project – with many “bells and whistles” and a design based on an estimated lifespan of a few years – to something that is much larger in capacity and magnitude, and developed to be up and running for decades. Furthermore, it is not so simple to replicate such solutions , since the contexts differ within companies and cities, and the differences may be even larger when it comes to replications from other cities, regions and countries.
Celsius has developed a list of recommendations for what to consider when either planning a demonstration project or planning the next step at the end of a demonstration project. The list can be found here. The recommendations are all based on the notion that in order for a new concept to make an impact, it needs to be implemented on a large scale, and this requires funding. There is little chance of getting funding using only technical data, especially when it comes to loans, which is why information on other aspects must be gathered early. The recommendations are presented as a checklist, covering the following areas:
- Funding
- Politics and policy
- Team and competence
- Regulations
- Risk management
- Community Acceptance and User involvement
- Business Models
- Technology
These areas are also similar to the EIT Climate KIC:s four major categories of “Enablers of Change” , which focus on city transformation:
There are also other useful frameworks, for example the Scalability and Replicability Analysis (SRA) launched by BRIDGE. Here they make use of the Smart Grid Architecture Model, indicating several dimensions and aspects that need to be considered. These aspects includ :
- Interoperability layers: eg. component, communication, information, function and business.
- Domains: eg. generation, transmission, distribution, distributed energy resources, and customer premise.
- Zones: eg. process, field, station, operation, enterprise and market.
Text by: Lena Holmberg (IMCG)
This article was first published on Celsius.
