Design of a high-temperature, power-constrained electrified district heating network with thermal storage and curtailed wind integration

The electrification of heating, and in particular district heating networks, is challenging from system integration and cost perspectives but could provide significant services for the wider electricity system. In this work, several control strategies are compared for the optimal design of a high -temperature, power -constrained electrified district heating network of a university campus with borehole thermal energy storage and grid services such as flexibility, load -levelling and wind curtailment mitigation. The proposed heat plant operation is modelled in TRNSYS and its performance is analysed from a grid operator and end-user's viewpoint. The impact of several system parameters is investigated in a sensitivity analysis. It is shown that, depending on the control strategy, total efficiencies up to 200 % and curtailed wind fractions up to 43.8 % are achievable with great flexibility and load -levelling, and operating costs and emissions significantly lower than for gas -reliant systems. A control strategy which aims for load -levelling and maximal storage headroom is shown to be best suited from the perspective of both the end -user (efficiency, emissions and cost) and grid operator (grid services). A compromise between efficiency and grid services is highlighted which could be mitigated by financial incentives for curtailed wind integration, benefiting both consumers and grid operators.