Enhancing Power System Flexibility Through District Heating - Potential Role in the Italian Decarbonisation

Decarbonized energy systems of the next future will see big shares of photovoltaic and wind. Such shares of fluctuating sources will need flexibility, on both the supply and demand sides. According to the Italy's draft National Energy and Climate Plan, in 2030 the flexibility of the national power system will mainly come from increased electricity storage capacity and smart charge of electric vehicles. In this paper we study the potential of district heating as a further option. Through a simulation model, we analyse how district heating would interact with the Italian power system if part of the heat generation is based on an intelligent and controlled use of electricity. Results show that, depending on the installed capacity of power-to-heat generation and on the heat storage capacity, district heating can accommodate overgeneration to a relatively modest but interesting extent. This preliminary analysis suggests that the potential of district heating should be considered as a possible option.