15 May 2023

Paper No 394 – Flexibility potential of heat pumps in Swedish thermal grids: for district heating companies and end users – 14th IEA Heat Pump Conference, Chicago, USA

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In a power system with a large share of intermittent sources, the need for flexibility to balance variations in electricity
production will increase. Flexibility can also help to reduce problems with bottle necks in the electricity grids. An advantage
of using a combination of heat pumping technology and thermal networks is the larger flexibility in heat production and
storage options that it entails. This article discusses the potential of using the flexibility of heat pumps in Swedish thermal
grids from the perspective of energy company and end users. In an interview study with district heating companies that
have heat pumps in their thermal grids, possibilities and barriers to use heat pumps for flexibility was investigated. It was
found that those who have heat pumps already use them for flexibility. Barriers for even more use was investment cost for
new heat pumps. More frequent shifts are connected to organizational, behavioral, and technical barriers. The study also
investigates the economic benefits for end users by utilizing the flexibility of heat pumps combined with district heating.
Simulations are carried out for buildings located in different electricity price areas and climate zones in Sweden. It also
considers different price scenarios for electricity, grid tariff, district heating and system services The result shows that the
energy cost for end users could be effectively reduced by using the flexibility of the hybrid heating system. The cost saving
potential varies among locations, price scenarios and the type of system services provided by the heat pump.