Grant Map EU

It is a big challenge to achieve the Europe2020 goals and beyond; both increase in energy efficiency by 20 %, but also the decrease of CO2-emissions. Also, the EU the world´s largest importer of energy (400 billion EUR which amounts to approximately 53 % of the entire need) will in the upcoming years face vast reinvestment need in the modernization of existing infrastructure, such as DH (District Heating) grids, the leading heating source in the BSR. Many countries are too dependent on Coal and Russian Gas. By reducing the losses in the grid, we can minimize the usage of these fossil fuels and hence foster energy efficiency. The Nordic countries have shown that DH system is a tool to reduce fossil fuel dependency, moving into circular economy. DH/CHP is also an enabler to more wind and solar power. The main drawback with DH is the capital need, inefficient operation (losses), expressed in economic terms – low return on capital and a massive replacement need. DH companies, usually city owned, need to attract a new generation of educated employees and more females. In order to solve the challenge described above, to boost DH efficiency and reduce capital need, one of the most needed processes will be Smart Asset Management (SAM). SAM will create both environmental benefits for the Baltic Sea region, and more affordable heat for the end customers by using our existing assets and resources longer and more efficiently (fuel and energy saving). The purpose of the project is to develop methods, transnational collaboration processes and knowledge for SAM. The objectives are to: – Identify barriers and success factors for the development and implementation of SAM, the digitalization of DH Distribution Networks. – Develop nationally adapted methods for condition monitoring of the DH networks and Learning. – Full utilization of modern ICT-tools for Data Driven Predictive Maintenance of DH networks.