Industrial residual heat and transmission in Leiden, Netherlands

Location: Leiden, Netherlands

Population: 344,299 (metropolitan area)

Climate: Oceanic

Duration: 2017 – ongoing

Sector: District energy

Funding sources: Private

City networks: N/A

Savings: carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions every year.

Solutions: Implement a District heating system, including a 43 km transmission pipeline, to deliver heating to the greater Leiden area and the nearby Heineken brewery.

Multiple benefits: Due to the use of industrial residual heat, less use will be made of natural gas in the Leiden region in the future. That means a significant CO2 reduction every year (source).

Objective – Warmtelevering Leidse Regio (WLR) is a project that involves the transmission of industrial residual heat from Rotterdam to the larger Leiden area.

Solutions – The WLR project collaborates between the Warmtebedrifj Rotterdam heating firm and the energy company Noun. This is a significant step toward a sustainable and future-proof heat supply in Leiden, as well as a significant infrastructure for heat transport in the province of South Holland, as the South Holland Heat Alliance envisions (source).

Approximately 13,000 households and 200 businesses might be provided with sustainable heating by supplying the wider Leiden area with industrial residual heating from the port of Rotterdam. The project includes a significant transmission line, consisting of a 43-kilometre pipeline that distributes heat from the port to the town and back.

A pumping station powered by electricity transports the high-temperature residual heat from Rotterdam’s port. The heat is delivered to Leiden’s heating centrals, where it is distributed to the city’s existing district heating system. The return flow still has a large energy potential which is harvested at the Heineken brewery. The low-temperature heat from the return flow creates hot steam for the brewing process. This is accomplished with a heat pump that is powered by electricity. The cooled water is returned to the port of Rotterdam, where it is heated in heat exchangers by industrial residual heat. As a result, the system’s total energy efficiency is improved.

Funding – N/A

Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam will install a heat transport pipeline to supply residual heat to Leiden. The company was founded in 2006 on the initiative of the Rotterdam Municipality.

Innovation – 1) The transmission system is one-of-a-kind, spanning across various highways in an already developed urban setting. Furthermore, the brewery is supplied by a buffer tank at the heating centre, and hot water is used for packaging activities; 2) Other municipalities and businesses along the route, such as greenhouse horticulture, will profit from the heat supply in the future. Furthermore, the technology allows for other heat sources such as geothermal energy or biomass (source).

Success factors – A large amount of residual heat is available in the ports of Rotterdam. This is heat that is still primarily ‘thrown away’. This district heating project uses this residual heat, thereby replacing natural gas and thus significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions (source); 2) Value creation. Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam purchases port heat from companies who have it available, transports it, and sells it to companies that need heat. The port of Rotterdam’s industry is the “supplier” of port heat. Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam adds value by offering port heat a new use in collaboration with this supplier. By providing port heat to Warmtebedrijf Rotterdam, the supplier’s energy efficiency improves: after all, energy efficiency improves (source).

Significant outcomes

• The transmission system results in immense CO₂ – and energy savings, as significant amounts of natural gas can be substituted with already existing residual heating;
• Potential: 13,000 households and 200 companies.

 Synergies with local policies:

• Leiden Heat Vision. Leiden wants to be a gas-free city. Leiden strives to keep its future promising and liveable. The plan is to make Leiden gas-free in 33 years. This means heating some 50,000 homes differently, which corresponds to 1500 dwellings per year;
• Energieakkoord Holland Rijnland 2017-2025. By 2050, the regional goal is to be energy-neutral, contributing to national and international climate and energy goals;
• South Holland Heat Alliance. Under the name Heat Alliance South Holland, five parties from South Holland have signed a statement of intent to work together to build a heat network infrastructure. The parties hope to contribute to a low-CO2 energy supply by doing so.

Political alignment:

• Climate Act. The Climate Act sets legally binding targets for reducing GHG emissions in the Netherlands. It requires the government to reduce total GHG emissions by 95% from 1990 levels and achieve carbon neutrality in the energy sector by 2050 (source);
• Heat Act. The most recent modifications to the Heat Act stimulate the provision and use of renewable energy by broadening the scope of the original text to make it easier for sustainable heat providers to operate. On January 1, 2020, a favourable tariff arrangement will take effect (source);
• Long term strategy on climate mitigation. This document describes the Netherlands’ current and future policies to enable mitigation efforts in the country, including energy measures (source);
• Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) 2021-2030. The NECP outlines the climate and energy policy priorities for the next decade. This agreement provides a set of initiatives that have the active support of all participating parties and will accomplish the political CO2 reduction target of 49% by 2030;
• National Climate Agreement. This document sets the government’s strategy in achieving a 49% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels (source);
• Energy Investment Tax Deduction Scheme (WEM). Companies investing in renewable energy and energy-saving equipment benefit directly. The plan allows entrepreneurs to deduct up to EUR113m (USD175m) of energy-saving equipment purchase/production costs from their company’s income in the year of purchase (source);

National Energy Efficiency Action Plan. It describes energy efficiency initiatives in the Netherlands, estimates savings, and other reporting requirements (source).