This publication of IEA SHC Task 55 describes the market development of Solar District Heating and Cooling in seven countries. Within country report presentations during the eight taskmeetings, the market developments in the participating countries were presented and discussed in the international expert group and the information is summarized in this factsheet.
 

Due to their ability to distribute large amounts of renewable energy, District Heating Networks (DHN) are expected to exhibit a considerable development in the coming years. The ENRSIM software, cofounded by the French Renewable Energy Agency (ADEME), aims at providing a simple tool to size DHN production plants with renewable production units and storage.
 

Large-scale solar thermal systems are a cost-efficient technology to provide renewable heat. The rapid market growth in the last decade has been concentrated on a small number of countries, with the outstanding position of Denmark followed by China, Germany and Austria. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the market and common technological solutions for large-scale solar thermal systems in these countries.

The brochure contains very useful info charts and general information about large scale SDH as well as several case studies of SDH installations in Denmark, China, Serbia, Austria, France, Latvia and Germany.

District Heating required annually 600 TWh in the European Union and represents more than 10% of the EUs heat demand. Fossil fuels are the major source for heat production. Approximately 5000 district heating grids in the EU are operated by burning fossil fuels valued at € 18 billion (600 TWh) and emitting more than 150 million tons of CO2 emissions every year.