During the DeCarbCH Lunch Talk on Thermal Networks on 30 November 2021, Dr. Tobias Sommer (HSLU-IGE) presented an overview on thermal networks in Switzerland and projections into the future based on a few available reports. After the talk, some participants mentioned other estimates.
Tobias took this as a motivation to search for available reports, extract the numbers and summarize the available estimates. It turned out that the different reports provide different estimates for the future and the current situation.
For example, the contribution of thermal networks to the final heating demand in Switzerland varies between 6% and 9% between the studied reports. The report on “Expected developments of thermal networks in Switzerland to reduce CO2 emissions” provides an up-to-date overview based on 13 reports.
A good rule of thumb is remembering a crude “30/3/30” relation.
The heat demand will decrease by about 30% from 2020 to 2050, the heat delivered by thermal networks will increase by a factor of 3, and thermal networks will cover 30% of the future (2050) heating demand in Switzerland.
