Smart thermal grid The preliminary design of a heat trading platform

Due to changing market conditions on the energy market, profit margins are under pressure. This is also the case with thermal grids. In this paper an industrialized thermal grid, with heat delivery to greenhouse growers, is investigated. To improve the profitability of this thermal grid the possibility of transforming it into a smart thermal grid by introducing a heat- trading platform is proposed. This study describes a preliminary design of a heat-trading platform. The platform coordinates the transactions between the system participants, in alignment with the interests of the relevant actors. It consists of an economic dispatch of all production facilities and institutions to govern the network. This dispatch maximizes the social welfare, creating maximum benefits for the whole system. The method of analysis divides the system into different domains: technology, actors, economics and institutions. Based on the preliminary design a simplified model of the heat-trading platform was created. The outcomes of this model are promising. Both producers and consumers could attain the most important aspect of the smart thermal grid, i.e. economic gain.