engleski

Medium Term Development Prospects of Cogeneration District Heating Systems in Transition Country – a Croatian Case

A dominant share of Croatian cogeneration capacity and future cogeneration potential belongs to district heating systems currently operating in almost all bigger mainland and coastal towns. Since public cogeneration and public heating plants, at present, cover approximately only 10 % of heating requirements of households and services sectors it is reasonable to assume that in future energy supply district heating could take a bigger relative and absolute share even in conditions of reduced heat demand imposed by implementation of Energy performance of buildings directive. However, development of future district heating projects will inevitably depend on capability to bridge financing barriers usually manifesting in large investment and long pay-back time. The public involvement will be necessary either at state or/and at municipal level since private companies are focused on short-term profitability. In this paper, taking a midsize town as an example, a cost analysis of implementation of various measures directed to strengthening of market position of district heating system will be performed. The results will be compared with competing concepts of individual buildings heating, such as condensing gas boilers, heat pumps and decentralised systems based renewable energy resources. Levels of financial support will be recommended required for sustainability of district heating projects in specific conditions of Croatian energy market.

district heating; cogeneration; biomass

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