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Meet HEATman: Major commercial partnership gives boost to Danish district heating
The HEATman partnership aims to ensure cheap and sustainable district heating in Denmark. Photo: Brønderslev Forsyning.
Backed by a grant of DKK 25 million from Innovation Fund Denmark, 16 players aim to revolutionise the district heating sector. NIRAS is heading up the project, which aims to extract valuable knowledge from the sector’s data.
March 26, 2019
Cheap and sustainable district heating. This is the mission of a landmark partnership between district heating companies, universities, technology companies and software providers that was launched in March 2019.
The name of the consortium is HEATman, and the aim of the project is to dig deep into the incredible amounts of data the district heating sector generates, and extract valuable knowledge.
With a DKK 25 million grant from Innovation Fund Denmark and a total budget of DKK 36 million, the stage is set for a development project that aims to ensure Denmark retains its leading position in the design, development and operation of district heating infrastructure.
“Denmark has long been a leading nation in relation to energy-efficient district heating. But to maintain and strengthen this position, we must continue to make improvements and incorporate technological developments. This is the rationale behind the HEATman initiative,” says project director Michael Lassen Schmidt from NIRAS.
HEATman partners
NIRAS (project manager), Dansk Fjernvarme, Brønderslev Forsyning, Trefor Varme, Hillerød Varme, Danfoss, Logstor, Kamstrup, EMD International, Enfor, Neogrid, NorthQ, Leanheat (Finland), DESMI, Center Denmark, DTU, and Aarhus University.
Future-proof district heating
NIRAS is the project manager for HEATman, and will drive the commercial partnership over the next three years.
“HEATman is an extremely interesting and vital development project with far-reaching implications – not only for Denmark, but also internationally. As a long-standing adviser to Danish district heating companies and based on our market-leading expertise in relation to digitisation of utilities and system planning, we look forward to heading up this project,” says Stefan Schmidt, Vice President at NIRAS.
More about HEATman
- Innovation Fund Denmark’s investment: DKK 25 million
- Total budget: DKK 36 million
- Duration: 3 years
- Official title of Innovation Fund Denmark’s project: HEAT 4.0 – Digitally supported Smart District Heating
HEATman’s vision is to future-proof district heating by providing cutting-edge knowledge, which will also attract the attention of other countries. For example, the partners will investigate how leaks in district heating pipes can be located and stopped more efficiently, and explore the possibility of storing green energy in the district heating grid.
Ultimately, HEATman aims so ensure cheap and sustainable district heating for Danes, and potentially abroad.
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