Increased district heating

Published:

District heating consumption increased by 4.4 per cent in 2017 compared to the year before and amounted to 5.5 TWh. Investment in district heating production and the further expansion of the district heating net has pushed up consumption over time.

Written by: Thomas Aanensen and Ann Christin Bøeng

In 2017, the total length of the district heating net was about 1 900 km – more than twice that of 2008.

Highest consumption in service industries

Service industries continued to account for the largest share of consumption in 2017, and their use of district heating accounted for about 3.3 TWh. A total of 23 per cent of the total district heating consumption, or about 1.2 TWh, was supplied to households, while consumption in industry accounted for 17 per cent, or barely 1 TWh.

Figure 1. Consumption of district heating by consumer group

Households Manufacturing etc. Services
1992 254 237 540
1993 268 253 557
1994 240 295 596
1995 271 316 598
1996 300 333 665
1997 255 273 753
1998 269 247 861
1999 299 238 971
2000 211 235 1012
2001 300 219 1296
2002 304 282 1346
2003 346 295 1445
2004 381 289 1560
2005 395 300 1655
2006 445 301 1749
2007 512 324 1922
2008 661 326 1930
2009 692 369 2232
2010 1023 473 2804
2011 754 405 2571
2012 913 482 2828
2013 1054 581 3065
2014 967 616 2878
2015 1007 847 2977
2016 1184 870 3192
2017 1239 939 3300

About half of district heating is generated from waste

Net production of district heating was 6.1 TWh. Losses in the distribution net amounted to almost 0.7 TWh, which means that about 5.5 TWh district heating was delivered to consumers.

Waste incineration is the main energy source for district heating. In 2017, about 50 per cent of district heating, or 2.9 TWh was produced from waste. The second largest source of energy was waste wood facilities, with a share of around 21 per cent (1.3 TWh).

Figure 2. Net production of district heating by type of heat central. 2017

Prosentandel
Refuse incineration plant 47.5
Biofuel 0.6
Oil boilers 0.9
Waste heat 2.9
Gas 4.1
Heat pumps 9.8
Electric boilers 12.8
Wood waste 21.4

District cooling

In addition to district heating, some of the plants supply district cooling. Consumption of district cooling came to 173 GWh in 2017; about 5 per cent lower than the year before.

Figure 3. Consumption of district cooling

GWh
2003 46
2004 53
2005 63
2006 73
2007 84
2008 99
2009 115
2010 120
2011 136
2012 133
2013 156
2014 169
2015 169
2016 182
2017 173

Higher prices

The average price for district heating increased from 63.5 øre/kWh in 2016 to 66.7 øre/kWh in 2017. For households and the service sector, the average price was 68.9 and 73.8 øre/kWh respectively, but industry was lower, at 38.7 øre/kWh. The price for cooling amounted to 98.3 øre/kWh in 2017, which is 4 per cent higher than 2016.

Increased district heating consumption and higher prices led to higher sales revenues from district heating in 2017. The revenues from district heating increased by about 10 per cent compared to 2016 and amounted to NOK 3.7 billion. The revenue from district cooling was NOK 170 million.

District cooling

Since 2013, the time series on consumption, sales incomes and average price of district cooling have been included in Statbank.

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