Distribution pipe connecting district heating grids in Oslo
Hafslund Fjernvarme in Oslo is connecting different district heating grids to improve the system's efficiency.
Hafslund's power generation is largely from renewable energy sources. Heat is distributed in pipes in Oslo.
Hafslund Fjernvarme in Oslo is connecting the district heating grid at Søndre Nordstrand, and the garbage combustion and district heating facility at Klemetsrud to the district heating grid in central Oslo. Increased use of district heating is important to heighten the share of renewable energy i Oslo. It is a measure to combat climate change and it corresponds well with the climate and energy strategy for the municipality of Oslo.
Garbage combustion
Hafslund Fjernvarme and the municipality of Oslo consider the district heating an important contribution to reduce CO2 emissions. The capacity at at the combustion facility at Klemetsrud will be increased as a measure to boost the use of renewable heat in the district heating grid.
Hafslund Fjernvarme is also planning to connect a heat generating biofuel facility to provide renewable heating for 50,000 households. The present development will be useful for coming generations. Large housing areas as Ensjøbyen and others will be able to connect to the district heating grid.
Challenging
The construction of a 12.3 kilometre connecting pipe from Klemetsrud to central Oslo has been challenging. The heating distribution pipes have been installed underground in high-density housing areas and traffic areas. The work on the pipes was simultaneously started at both ends, and the work is carried out in six stages. Stage four was started in June 2008, and will be finished by spring 2009.
Environmental considerations
The constructors report that the piping needed both thorough planning and creativity – due to a lot of necessary considerations. For instance, the distribution pipes were placed underneath Oslo's most important bird sanctuary, Østensjøvannet. The bird sanctuary demanded special considerations. Both local experts and people from the organisation Østensjøvannets venner, took part in the discussions.
Financial support by Enova
The construction of the interconnected district heating grids in Oslo was partly financed by the public enterprise Enova SF. Enova SF is owned by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and its main mission is to contribute to environmentally sound and to rational use and production of energy. Enova uses financial instruments and incentives to stimulate market actors and mechanisms to achieve national energy policy goals. The financial support given to Hafslund Fjernvarme for this project was, up until 2006, the largest single amount of money given to any project in Enova's portfolio.
About Hafslund Fjernvarme
Hafslund Fjernvarme is Norway's largest district heating provider with 40 percent of the total production of district heating in Norway.
The company distributes 1 TWh district heating to about 3,300 office buildings and private housings in the Oslo region. Hafslund Fjernvarme also generates and operates district heating for Oslo Airport Gardermoen and the surrounding business and industrial area, and also operates district heating for the centre of Kolbotn and Mastemyr Business Park.
There is a pronounced potential for growth in Oslo. Hafslund Fjernvarme's goal is to meet the demand by doubling deliverance within a few years. The company faces challenges connected to both the expansion of the distribution network as well as increasing production capacity.
For further information:
Hafslund
Enova
Norsk fjernvarme
Svensk Fjärrvärme AB
Dansk Fjernvarme
Modern waste-to-energy facilities differ significantly from old-fashioned municipal incinerators. The old ones burned trash inefficiently and with hardly any air pollution control systems. Nor did they recover any of the energy released during the combustion process.
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralised location for residential and commercial heating requirements. Water is the common medium used for the distribution of heat.
