The short term goal is to realise renovation of the dwellings/buildings and implement district heating in a specific neighbourhood between IVBO and the city centre. This project will be an absolute game changer in people’s minds and will be used to accelerate the development of a heating network in 4 clusters in city centre after renovation (long term): a city with a lot of UNESCO heritage, small streets, full underground, a lot of worker’s houses, city and public buildings which are badly insulate. In the short term, part of Christus Koning, a neighbourhood of 19th and beginning of the 20th century with (and a surface of 101,1ha), will be targeted. Apart from private dwellings, there is a swimming pool, two school buildings, supermarket, fitness centre, building of the national employment office and a lot of small retailers. In this way the city shows the good example, showcasing that heat net developed in historic densely built areas are also possible.
The project is about 5th generation, low-temperature district heating & cooling (5GDHC), fed with heat from riothermia (the process of recovering heat from sewage waters). The project foresees the development of district heating pipes from the sewage water plant to the city of Menen and, within the city, a 2-pipe system with insulated pipes and delta T of 20 °C due to upgrading the temperature at the sewage water plant with a central heat pump. It also foresees heat pump systems to upgrade from very low temperature to useable heat (regime of 65/45 °C). There will be a heat exchanger to extract heat from effluent water and adapted heating systems of end-users, including individual heating concepts and systems of the end-users (buildings), to connect to 5GDHC, including booster heat pumps in buildings. Key elements are also energy efficiency measures in the buildings of end-users, to reduce heat demand and peak demand by 20%. The engagement of ESCO is also planned to unburden the end-users.
The project targets low energy retrofits of existing, co-owned condominiums. Currently, there are 16 371 flat units (39% of the residential building stock in Mechelen), of which 11 600 (71%) are built before 1990. This corresponds to approx. 1 600 existing condominiums with poor energy performance. The intended energy efficiency measures concern no-regret measures (roof insulation, high-performance windows with double glazing, facade insulation) as well as the refurbishment of the heating system. Additionally, the goal is to maximise the renewable energy production on the more recent condominium rooftops, by sharing renewable energy between co-owners via energy communities.
The city of Mortsel has ambitions to lower its CO2-emissions of building heating by applying alternatives for fossil heating such as citizen owned DHN on waste and renewable heat. Therefor it supported the district heating grid operator Warmte Verzilverd to build and operate their DHN using industrial waste heat from an industrial site in Mortsel. At the moment, only a part of the capacity of the heat source is utilized. It is estimated that there is additional capacity of at least 5000 MWh of heat per year (this equals the annual energy consumption for heating of about 350 households). The heat is captured from the chimney of high temperature processes and would otherwise be dissipated in the air. To expand the DHN further investments in distribution infrastructure (piping, pumps, satellite units, …) are needed.
The investment concept targets major energy renovation of public buildings, mainly administrative offices, municipal schools and sport facilities through retrofitting of HVAC installations with advanced regulation, relighting/re-lamping, renewable energy (heat pump, water solar heating, PV), envelope insulation, smart metering and monitoring of energy efficiency, possibly using the IPMVP protocol.
The objective is to finance the creation of solar-power electricity production sites, by way of photovoltaic panels. The precise technology used may vary depending on technical studies for each site. Depending on technical data, the electricity produced could be self-consumed, injected into the network or stocked in batteries. Where applicable, higher panel structures might be needed (above roads, parking lots …). Some sites might be used directly to provide power for electrical vehicle charging stations.
The municipality of Ranst wants to lower its CO2 emissions by replacing the current heat source (natural gas) with a sustainable alternative: a citizen-owned district heating network based on aqua thermal and waste energy. The project area consists of the centre of Oelegem (sub municipality of Ranst) and the business park Ter Straten. Two separate networks will be installed: the North network, delivering heat to the centre of Oelegem, and the South Network, delivering heat to the business park. The North Network consists of 900 meters of piping and can deliver heat to 120 buildings, of which the majority are individual houses. The source of heating will be a large-scale heat pump using surface water from the canal as its heat source.
The South Network consists of a 2000-meter network and can deliver heat to 30 industrial buildings. The source of heating will be either a large-scale aqua thermal heat pump or waste energy from a large chemical plant in the business park, or a combination of both.
The City of Zottegem aims to obtain a zero energy public building stock by 2050 (and to -55% CO2 emissions by 2030). To this end, their 37 buildings, ranging from office buildings to public meeting centres for inhabitants, a residential care centre, schools and sports facilities, need to be insulated (including window replacement) and their building installations need to be replaced by efficient non-fossil ones. The engineering analysis of this project will uncover the required measures for each of the buildings. The financial analysis will reveal how these measures can be financed. A timeline will be set up, specifying which measure needs to be implemented in which year and the annual budget the city has to foresee.