IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v319y2025ics0360544225004888.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic planning and viability assessment for implementing district cooling networks

Author

Listed:
  • Malla, Aadit
  • Kranzl, Lukas

Abstract

In response to the growing demand for cooling, this paper investigates the feasibility of implementing District Cooling (DC) supply technology as a sustainable solution for cooling supply. Using a comparative analysis at a hectare resolution, we evaluate the levelized cost of cooling of DC against individual supply, factoring in pipe sizing, network length estimates, and supply costs. Lower-level cooling costs than individual supply options determine feasibility for a specific location. We applied the model to Vienna and analyzed for different connection rates for district cooling. At electricity price ranges of 80 EUR/MWh - 200 EUR/MWh, feasibility varied from 1% to 70% coverage of the actual useful cooling energy demand, increasing with higher connection rates. Our conclusion highlights the significance of a higher connection rate as crucial for enhancing District Cooling (DC) feasibility. Therefore, if DC is to be promoted, specific policies such as regulatory schemes facilitating connection to district cooling or economic incentives would be required to increase coverage potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Malla, Aadit & Kranzl, Lukas, 2025. "Strategic planning and viability assessment for implementing district cooling networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225004888
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.134846
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225004888
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.134846?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Müller & Marcus Hummel & Lukas Kranzl & Mostafa Fallahnejad & Richard Büchele, 2019. "Open Source Data for Gross Floor Area and Heat Demand Density on the Hectare Level for EU 28," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Persson, Urban & Werner, Sven, 2011. "Heat distribution and the future competitiveness of district heating," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 568-576, March.
    3. Rismanchi, B., 2017. "District energy network (DEN), current global status and future development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 571-579.
    4. Alessio Mastrucci & Bas Ruijven & Edward Byers & Miguel Poblete-Cazenave & Shonali Pachauri, 2021. "Global scenarios of residential heating and cooling energy demand and CO2 emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 1-26, October.
    5. Martínez-Ruiz, Yessenia & Manotas-Duque, Diego Fernando & Ramírez-Malule, Howard, 2023. "Financial risk assessment of a district cooling system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    6. Mitterrutzner, Benjamin & Callegher, Claudio Zandonella & Fraboni, Riccardo & Wilczynski, Eric & Pezzutto, Simon, 2023. "Review of heating and cooling technologies for buildings: A techno-economic case study of eleven European countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    7. Zheng, Xinyao & Zhou, Yuekuan, 2024. "Dynamic heat-transfer mechanism and performance analysis of an integrated Trombe wall with radiant cooling for natural cooling energy harvesting and air-conditioning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    8. Jangsten, Maria & Lindholm, Torbjörn & Dalenbäck, Jan-Olof, 2022. "District cooling substation design and control to achieve high return temperatures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    9. Karishma Asarpota & Vincent Nadin, 2020. "Energy Strategies, the Urban Dimension, and Spatial Planning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-25, July.
    10. Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Werner, Sven & Dyrelund, Anders & Lund, Henrik & Arabkoohsar, Ahmad & Sorknæs, Peter & Gudmundsson, Oddgeir & Thorsen, Jan Eric & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2022. "The four generations of district cooling - A categorization of the development in district cooling from origin to future prospect," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    11. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Zakeri, Behnam & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco & Costalonga, Leandro, 2022. "Seawater air-conditioning and ammonia district cooling: A solution for warm coastal regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    12. Calise, Francesco & Cappiello, Francesco Liberato & Cimmino, Luca & Dentice d’Accadia, Massimo & Vicidomini, Maria, 2023. "A comparative thermoeconomic analysis of fourth generation and fifth generation district heating and cooling networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    13. Fallahnejad, Mostafa & Kranzl, Lukas & Haas, Reinhard & Hummel, Marcus & Müller, Andreas & García, Luis Sánchez & Persson, Urban, 2024. "District heating potential in the EU-27: Evaluating the impacts of heat demand reduction and market share growth," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PB).
    14. Werner, Sven, 2017. "District heating and cooling in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 419-429.
    15. Werner, Sven, 2017. "International review of district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 617-631.
    16. Li, Xiang & Yilmaz, Selin & Patel, Martin K. & Chambers, Jonathan, 2023. "Techno-economic analysis of fifth-generation district heating and cooling combined with seasonal borehole thermal energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    17. Neri, Manfredi & Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2022. "Design and connection optimization of a district cooling network: Mixed integer programming and heuristic approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yao, Shuai & Wu, Jianzhong & Qadrdan, Meysam, 2024. "A state-of-the-art analysis and perspectives on the 4th/5th generation district heating and cooling systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    2. Kuntuarova, Saltanat & Licklederer, Thomas & Huynh, Thanh & Zinsmeister, Daniel & Hamacher, Thomas & Perić, Vedran, 2024. "Design and simulation of district heating networks: A review of modeling approaches and tools," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    3. Zhang, Yuhang & Liu, Mingzhe & O'Neill, Zheng & Wen, Jin, 2024. "Temperature control strategies for fifth generation district heating and cooling systems: A review and case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PA).
    4. Munćan, Vladimir & Mujan, Igor & Macura, Dušan & Anđelković, Aleksandar S., 2024. "The state of district heating and cooling in Europe - A literature-based assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    5. Reza Bahadori & Matthias Speich & Silvia Ulli-Beer, 2025. "Modernizing District Heating Networks: A Strategic Decision-Support Framework for Sustainable Retrofitting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-25, July.
    6. Sommer, Tobias & Sotnikov, Artem & Sulzer, Matthias & Scholz, Volkher & Mischler, Stefan & Rismanchi, Behzad & Gjoka, Kristian & Mennel, Stefan, 2022. "Hydrothermal challenges in low-temperature networks with distributed heat pumps," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    7. Abugabbara, Marwan & Javed, Saqib & Johansson, Dennis, 2022. "A simulation model for the design and analysis of district systems with simultaneous heating and cooling demands," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    8. Averfalk, Helge & Werner, Sven, 2020. "Economic benefits of fourth generation district heating," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    9. Mc Guire, Jason & Petrović, Stefan N. & Daly, Hannah & Rogan, Fionn & Smith, Andrew & Balyk, Olexandr, 2024. "Is District Heating a cost-effective solution to decarbonise Irish buildings?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    10. Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2019. "Thermal energy storage in district heating and cooling systems: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Zakeri, Behnam & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco & Costalonga, Leandro, 2022. "Seawater air-conditioning and ammonia district cooling: A solution for warm coastal regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    12. Persson, Urban & Wiechers, Eva & Möller, Bernd & Werner, Sven, 2019. "Heat Roadmap Europe: Heat distribution costs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 604-622.
    13. Pietro Catrini & Tancredi Testasecca & Alessandro Buscemi & Antonio Piacentino, 2022. "Exergoeconomics as a Cost-Accounting Method in Thermal Grids with the Presence of Renewable Energy Producers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-27, March.
    14. Danica Djurić Ilić, 2020. "Classification of Measures for Dealing with District Heating Load Variations—A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.
    15. Malcher, Xenia & Tenorio-Rodriguez, Francis Catherine & Finkbeiner, Matthias & Gonzalez-Salazar, Miguel, 2025. "Decarbonization of district heating: A systematic review of carbon footprint and key mitigation strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    16. Chatterjee, Souran & Molnár, Gergely & Kiss, Benedek & Topál, Daniel & Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana, 2025. "Navigating the transition: Modelling the path for net-zero European building sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    17. Ramos-Teodoro, Jerónimo & Álvarez, José Domingo & Torres, José Luis, 2024. "A methodology for feasibility analyses of district heating networks: A case study applied to greenhouse crops," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    18. Golmohamadi, Hessam & Larsen, Kim Guldstrand & Jensen, Peter Gjøl & Hasrat, Imran Riaz, 2022. "Integration of flexibility potentials of district heating systems into electricity markets: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    19. Marco Pellegrini & Augusto Bianchini, 2018. "The Innovative Concept of Cold District Heating Networks: A Literature Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, January.
    20. Alessandro Guzzini & Marco Pellegrini & Edoardo Pelliconi & Cesare Saccani, 2020. "Low Temperature District Heating: An Expert Opinion Survey," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-34, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:319:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225004888. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.