Renewable energy supply of buildings

Lecture 10
Energy Grids
10.07.2023

Fatma Deghim, M.Sc.

Lehrstuhl für energieeffizientes und nachhaltiges Planen und Bauen Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang
Semester plan
Date Lecture Exercise

17.04.2023 L 01 Introduction

24.04.2023 L 02 Technical basics (online)

01.05.2023 - -

08.05.2023 L 03 Demand assessment E 01 Demand assessment of a building

15.05.2023 L 04 Solarthermal power E 02 Exercise solarthermal power

22.05.2023 L 05 Photovoltaics E 03 Exercise PV

29.05.2023 - -

05.06.2023 L 06 Geothermal heat and heat pumps

12.06.2023 L 07 Wind power

19.06.2023 L 08 Biomass (online)

26.06.2023 - Digital excursion Oscar von Miller Forum

03.07.2023 L 09 Energy storage systems for buildings

10.07.2023 L 10 Power and heat networks

17.07.2023 - Q+A

24.07.2023 - Exam
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |2
Remarks on the Exam

Date and time 24.07.2020, 08:00 – 09:30

Language English
Allowed aids Closed book exam
→ Non-programmable calculator is allowed
→ Formulas and tables will be provided

Question types

• about 40% calculation exercises and about 60% understanding questions.

• Different question formats - from pure knowledge questions to application-oriented tasks

including multiple-choice questions and calculation problems.
• Mostly testing understanding of different concepts and technologies discussed in the lecture
and how systems work and interact with each other
• Calculations → similar calculation problems to the one we had in the lecture

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |3
Content of the lecture

1. Electricity Grids
2. Heat Grids

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |4
Content of the lecture

1. Electricity Grids
2. Heat Grids

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |5
German Power Grid

Development of the German electricity grid

• Originally built since the end of the 19th century to distribute

electricity from central generation plants to consumers
• The first power plants were coal-fired and hydroelectric power
plants, later natural gas and nuclear power plants were also
connected
• Nowadays, electricity is also generated decentrally, which
requires a complete restructuring of the power grid, as
consumers no longer only consume electricity but also produce it
• Challenges through Renewable Energies:
• The phasing out of nuclear and coal-fired electricity will
eliminate large producers whose predictable electricity
production will have to be replaced
• Electricity generation from renewable sources is dependent on
the weather, so it cannot be planned
• In the south a lot of solar power is produced, in the north a lot
of wind power is produced
→ To compensate for weather-related fluctuations in
generation on a large scale, the electricity grid is being
expanded (above and below ground)
https://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |6
German Power Grid
How the German Power Grid works
Extra High-Voltage Grid (Höchstspannungs-
/Übertragungsnetz)
→ transports electricity from large power plants over long
distances to the main points of consumption

High-Voltage Grid (Hochspannungsnetz)

→ distributes the electricity over a larger region to the medium-
voltage grids

Medium-Voltage Grid (Mittelspannungsnetz)

→ distributes the electricity into the local low-voltage grids

Low-Voltage Grid (Niederspannungsnetz)

→ distributes the electricity to the consumers
https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Infografiken/abbildung-das-deutsche-stromnetz.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3

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German Power Grid
Challenges of using Renewable Energies
• Due to the expansion of wind and solar energy, the
load flows are now temporarily reversed
• Electricity flows from the lower to the upper voltage
levels
• > 90 % of renewable electricity in Germany is
fed into the High-/Medium-/Low-Voltage Grid
• Originally designed to take electricity from the
Extra-High Voltage Grid and transport it
“down”, it now has to collect electricity
produced by the consumers
• Mostly from PV-plants and wind farms
• The complete Power Grid must be
• Expanded
• Strengthened
• Made more intelligent, to compensate for
fluctuations in power generation → “smart grid”

https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Infografiken/abbildung-das-deutsche-stromnetz.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang |8
European Power Grid
Goals of the European Energy Policy
DC Voltage

AC Voltage – 220 kV
• Realisation of a single European energy market
AC Voltage – 400 kV
→ guarantee a secure energy supply

• Integrate the rising share of Renewable Energies

• Nord-Link:

• Submarine cable connection Germany and

Norway

• Offshore-Wind power from Germany can be

stored in pumped-storage power plants in
Norway

https://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/ https://energiewinde.orsted.de/energiepolitik/nordlink-tausche-
windkraft-gegen-wasserkraft

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 Smart Grid
What is a Smart Grid?
• Combines electricity generation,
storage and consumption
• Coordination by a central control
system
• Compensates for power
fluctuations in the grid, which are
primarily generated by fluctuating
renewable energies
• Controlled by centralized IT and
decentralized energy management
systems, which coordinate the
individual components
→ not only energy but also data is
transported in a Smart Grid!
• Through intelligent networking,
load management and demand
flexibilization, an efficient use and
integration of renewable energies
can be achieved
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 10
 Controllable Producers

Smart Grid Volatile Producers

Solar-/Wind Energy
Biomass Power Plants

Communication and Control Center

records all data in the power grid and
controls power production and
consumption

Storage Systems
Take up overproduced electricity
Load-variable large-scale consumers
Can partially adapt their consumption to
and feed it back when necessary
the supply (e.g. cold storages)

Producers feed in
Building integrated Controlling electricity into the grid
Unit with Smart Meter
Consumers take
Measures consuption
electricity from the grid

Heat Pumps Electric Cars

Run in times of low consumption Charges when enough renewable electricity is being
(e.g. at night) produced, can feed back electricity when needed

https://www.unendlich-viel-energie.de/
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 11
Load Management at the building level

Generation power / Power demand

Power demand without load management

Available solar- / windpower generation power

Power demand with load management

Smoothing of power demand by load
management

https://www.ar.tum.de/fileadmin/w00bfl/klima/Publikationen/Berichte/Endbericht_Lastverhalten-von-Gebaeuden.pdf

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 12
Content of the lecture

1. Electricity Grids
2. Heat Grids

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Heat Grids

https://www.energieatlas.bayern.de/thema_energie/waermenetze.html

When to use Heat Grids

• Enough consumers with a constant and high heat demand (also im summer!) available

• Consumers are located in close proximity to each other → high heat allocation densities

• If the energy-efficient renovation of public buildings or the renovation of roads, sewers or

drinking water pipes is pending

• If there are unused heat sources, for example a biogas plant or industrial waste heat

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District Heating Systems („Fernwärme“)

District Heating (“Fernwärme”)

• Hot water is being transported to buildings through

insulated, underground pipes

• Temperatures reach up to 130°C and more, therefore

the water has to be supplied under pressure

• Covers whole cities and large distances

• Heat is produced in heating- or power plants

• Regenerative energies like biomass, geothermal energy

or waste heat are used more and more

• In most cases, 2 pipes are used

→ Flow- and Return Pipe („Vorlauf- und Rücklaufleitung“)
→ the diameters of the pipes can reach over 1m

• For industrial standards also 3 pipes may be used to

ensure a constant flow of temperature
https://www.stadtwerke-muenster.de/presse/pressemeldungen/gesamt/
nachricht/artikel/umfangreiche-arbeiten-an-haupt-fernwaermeleitung-im-hafen.html
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Local Heating Systems („Nahwärme“)

Local Heating (“Nahwärme”)

• Same principle like district heating, but on a smaller scale

• Temperatures reach up to 100°C, water is supplied at

atmospheric pressure

• No legal distinction to district heating systems possible

• Heat is mostly produced in small heating-plants

• Decentrally produced heat can also be used (e.g. from

solar collectors on buildings)

• 2 Pipes are used, diameters are adapted to the

consumers → as mostly small consumers are being
suplied, the diameters can get quite small too

https://www.sim-rhb.de/rathaus/vg-
werke/energieversorgung/nahwaermeversorgung-innenstadt-simmern
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Design of Heat Grids

Radiant Grid (“Strahlennetz”)

• Best for small and medium sizes grids

• Most direct approach to the consumers, short pipe-lengths possible

Ring Grid (“Ringnetz”)

• Allow the integration of multiple heat generators at different locations

• Longer pipe lengths and therefore larger diameters necessary than for
the radiant grid

• Higher supply security, failure of a generator can be compensated

Mesh Grid (“Maschennetz”)

• Like ring grids, but with even more branches

• Highest supply security, even pipe failures can be compensated

• Highest specific costs of all the grid types

Fraunhofer Umsicht: Leitfaden Nahwärme

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Design of Heat Grids
Standard Routing
Standard Routing

• Connection from the grid to every building

• Pipes run under public streets/sideways

• May result in many branches necessary

House-to-House Routing House-to-House Routing

• Combines several buildings into a group and only connects

the group to the grid

• Pipes run through private property

• Row Houses can be connected basement to basement

Single Loop Line
Single Loop Line

• Buildings are connected to each other withour a public grid

• Short pipe length necessary, but not expandable

• Only used for small and closed grids of few buildings

Fraunhofer Umsicht: Leitfaden Nahwärme
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 18
Laying of Pipes in Heat Grids

Laying underground Laying underground in a challel Laying above ground

• Most used type of laying for • High costs for creating the • Easy to install → low costs
local heating grids channel
• High heat losses
• Low heat losses • Medium heat losses
• Good accesibility
• Pipes are covered with soil • Good accesibility
• Pipes stay visible

https://www.ikt.de/forschung/erlegetechniken- https://www.kn-online.de/Kiel/Rohrbruch-in-Kiel- https://www.l-iz.de/wirtschaft/wirtschaft-

fernwaermeleitungsbau/ Suedfriedhof-Fernwaerme-Probleme-in-der-Stadt- leipzig/2017/09/Der-Stadtrat-bekommt-zwei-
moeglich Ausstiegs-Szenarien-aus-der-Kohle-Fernwaerme-
%E2%80%93-erst-naechstes-Jahr-191166

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Pipes used in Heat Grids

Construction of pipes

• Steel pipe for the water to run in

• Plastic foam insulation around the pipe

• Hard plastic cover around the insulation

→ Plastic Sheath Pipe („Kunststoffmantelrohr“)

Diameters are measured in DN (nominal diameter)

• Range from DN 25 to DN 1000

• DN 25 equals an inside diameter of ca. 30 mm

• DN 1000 equals an inside diameter of ca. 1000 mm

https://www.isoplus.de/fileadmin/data/downloads/do
cuments/germany/products/Energierohrtechnik-8-
Seiten_DEUTSCH_Web.pdf

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 20
Heat Transfer into the building

Direct district heating transfer

(“Direkte Fernwärmeübergabe”)
Direct Indirect
• The hot water from the heat grid runs directly through the Transfer Transfer
System System
heating system of the building

• Flow temperature of the grid = flow temperature in the

Hot water
building preparation

• No electrical components necessary

Indirect district heating transfer

(“Indirekte Fernwärmeübergabe”)
Heat Grid
• The hot water from the heat grid is used to heat up a
building-intern heating system via a heat exchanger

• Primary Side (Heat Grid until Heat Transfer Station) and

Kaltschmitt, Martin ; Streicher, Wolfgang ; Wiese, Andreas:
Secondary Side (Heating system of the building) exist Erneuerbare Energien : Systemtechnik, Wirtschaftlichkeit,
Umweltaspekte. Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag, 2013.

• Precise control of the heating system is possible

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Heat Transfer into the building – Indirect Heat Transfer

Flow - Primary Side

Return - Primary Side
Flow - Secondary Side House
System
Return - Secondary Side

Heat Grid House Connection Basement Transfer House

Line Line Station Control
Centre
House Station

House Connection Room

Planungshandbuch Fernwärme, Energie Schweiz, 2018

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Heat Transfer into the building (in German)

Planungshandbuch Fernwärme, Energie Schweiz, 2018

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Heat Transfer Station („FW-Übergabestation“)

Indirect district heating transfer station (“Indirekte Fernwärmeübergabestation”)

• Connects the primary side and

the secondary side
• Contains
• Heat exchanger
• Filter
• Pressure-Valve
• Heat meter
• Shut-Off device
• Thermometer

https://www.pewo.com/artikel/funktionen-fernwarmestation-pewocad/

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Heat Generation for Heat Grids

District Heating Grid

• Heat comes mainly from conventional power plants

• Share of renewable energies depends on their amount used by the power plant

Local Heating Grid

• Heat generator is often built just to supply the local grid

• Usually heat generators are

• Biomass plants (e.g. woodchip heating system → “Holz-Hackschnitzelheizung”)

• Waste Heat (for example from waste incineration → “Abwärme”)

• Solar Thermal Heat (“Solarthermie”)

• Geothermal Heat (“Erdwärme”)

• Heat Pumps (“Wärmepumpen”)

• Combined Power and Heat plants (e.g. Cogeneration Unit → “BHKW”)

• Fuel Cells (“Brennstofzellen”)

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 25
Heat Generation for Heat Grids Chimney

Wood Chips delivery

Biomass Plants

• In most cases woodchips are used as a fuel

Wood Chips
• A boiler house (“Heizhaus”) is built, which contains reservoir

the heat generators and a storage tank for the fuel Fuel discharge Additional Burner
(Oil/Gas)

• Usually a second heat generator is used for peak

Wood-Burner
loads (e.g. gas-boiler)
Fraunhofer Umsicht: Leitfaden Nahwärme

http://www.energiegenossenschaft-langenaltheim.de/nahwaerme/heizhaus/ https://nahwaerme-biederbach.de/

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Heat Generation for Heat Grids

Solarthermal Heat Production

Solar-supported local heating grid with short-term storage
• solar heat is used to heat the buildings via a short-term storage tank
• the system quickly reaches its limits during longer periods without sunshine
→ additional heat generator is required
• The solar system often supplies only 5-10% of the total heat
• Example: Solarthermal Heat Supply in an apartment building

Collectors
Solar-supported local heating grid with seasonal storage
• solar heat is stored in a seasonal large storage Hot-water

Heating
• the system can reach high a coverage of 40-60%
of solar heat
→ additional heat generator is still required Heating circuit Collector circuit

•
hot hot
Example: Ackermannbogen, Munich Central heat storage
cold cold

Quaschning, Volker; Regenerative Energiesysteme – 8. Auflage; Hanser Verlag

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 27
Heat Generation for Heat Grids

Solarthermal Heat Production

Decentralized feeding of solar yields into the
• Feeding in solar heat produced on the roofs of the customers themselves
• Comparable to feeding in PV-electricity into the power grid
• Technically complex systems, which are still a topic of research

Private home Using solar heat to support Boiler House

the central heat storage PV system (optional)
Solarthermal system

Heat
storage
Heat Heat
Solar
storage generator
storage

http://www.envisage-wuestenrot.de/projekt-envisage/ziele/nahwaerme-einspeisung

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Heat Generation for Heat Grids

Geothermal Heat Production

Near Surface Geothermal Systems
Geothermal heat is used in combination with a heat pump
a) geothermal collectors → high area demand → only for single houses
b) Geothermal probes and c) Use of Groundwater → suitable for larger
heat production with heat pumps

Deep Geothermal Systems

• High temperatures can be reached with deep geothermal probes
• Heat grid can be supplied without heat pump
• High costs for the construction of the probe (drilling…)

Fraunhofer Umsicht: Leitfaden Nahwärme

Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 29
Heat Generation for Heat Grids

“Cold Heat Grids”

• Heat grids with a low temperature level
• Flow Temperature reach from 0-20°C
• Heat pumps are installed at the customers,
which use the low level heat to power the
heating system of the building
• Comparable to the use of water-water heat
pumps, but no own drilling is necessary
• Big advantage: basically no heat losses in
transportation of the water
• Heat source is still necessary, but can be
“low quality” (doesn’t have to provide high
temperatures)
• But:
https://www.bundesbaublatt.de/artikel/bbb_Kalte_
• High investment costs for building the grid Nahwaerme_und_Sonnenstrom_3419391.html

and the heat pumps

• Large pipes necessary to transport high
volumes of water
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building | Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lang | 30
Copyright

© 2023
Renewable Energy Supply of Buildings

Technical University of Munich

TUM School of Engineering and Design
Chair for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building

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