Innovative indicators for quantifying energy flexibility of district heating networks
Résumé
This article proposes a methodology to quantify the flexibility potential of a district heating network. By "flexibility potential" is meant here the degree of freedom in combining and controlling the energy units of a district heating network in order to meet a target demand. This potential has been modelled as the logarithm of the available combinations (or configurations), like the Shannon/Boltzmann entropy in statistical mechanics. The methodology produces a set of four entropy-inspired indicators. The first two, called "structural" and "operational" flexibility, are proportional to the number of available combinations of energy units and their input and output thermal powers, respectively. The other two indicators are the "effective" counterparts of structural and operational flexibility, and indicate the extent to which a given demand profile exploits the overall flexibility potential of a district heating network. The methodology takes into account the different sources of flexibility related to heat production, (de)storage, dissipation or diversion, as well as load adjustment techniques (demand management). Given its scaleless and dimensionless formulation, the methodology can be applied to energy systems of any size or energy type. The methodology is presented with the open-source tool used for the calculations and an illustrative example.
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