Urban heat networks are expected to play a major role in the energy transition. This comes as no surprise when you consider that the networks can use a mix of energy sources, including renewables, and recover heat from household waste incineration plants. CCIAG, which operates Grenoble’s urban heat network, is partnering with CEA Tech institute Liten on a project that aims to improve urban heat network management while maintaining the quality of service delivered to consumers. “We would like to be able to fine-tune the temperatures injected into the network without sacrificing user comfort,” said a Liten representative. “This means accurately forecasting energy demand depending on the season and time of day and factoring in the way in which heat is propagated across the network.”

Liten developed software that can gather and analyze data from flow and temperature sensors and control pump and additional generator switches. The software is currently being tested in a virtual environment—a numerical simulator of a representative sampling of 26 consumers. Testing in a real-world environment will begin in 2015–2016.