€3m THERMOS project will reduce planning costs of heat networks

After much preparation we're about to start work on THERMOS (thermal energy resource modelling and optimisation system), a multi-partner €3m project that aims to accelerate the development of low-carbon district energy networks in Europe.

It will do this by providing local authorities and other bodies with dramatically improved methodology, tools and data to streamline the planning process for district heating systems.

We'll be working with a range of experts from universities, local and city-wide authorities, energy and environmental agencies and specialist consultancies based in the UK, Spain, Poland, Latvia, Denmark, Germany, Portugal and Romania (see foot of article for list).

CSE is the lead partner on THERMOS, and Martin Holley is our project manager. "Planning a local heat network is a drawn-out, expensive and complex business," he said, "not least because local authorities and developers tend to repeat the feasibility studies and other steps in the process that developers of similar schemes elsewhere have undertaken before - reinventing the wheel, if you like.

"THERMOS will provide the methods, data, and tools to enable public authorities and other stakeholders to undertake more sophisticated thermal energy system planning far more rapidly and cheaply than they can today. This approach will massively reduce planning costs."

THERMOS is a Horizon 2020 project funded by the EU, and will run until September 2019. For a full project profile, click here.

Working with CSE on THERMOS
Our partners include universities, local authorities and city-wide authorities, energy and environmental agencies and specialist consultants:

UK: Imperial College, London, Greater London Authority, London Borough of Islington; Spain: Creara Consultores SL, Ajuntament de Granollers; Poland: Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii SA, Miasto Stoleczne Warszawa; Latvia: Vides Investiciju Fonds SIA; Jelgavas Dome; Denmark: Aalborg Universitet; Germany: ICLEI European Secretariat GMBH, Deutsche Energie-Agentur GMBH; Romania: Primaria Municipiului Alba Iulia; Portugal: Municipio de Cascais