The planned development of thermal grids in Zurich entails uncertainties regarding customer acceptance, especially since mandatory connections are not foreseen. As a result, necessary investments into the distribution infrastructure are difficult to estimate a priori. Furthermore, the potential of various demand-side management solutions remains uncertain, making it difficult to prioritize investments in that area. DeCarbCH will support decision-making in this area through applied socio-technical research. Concretely, the Institute of Sustainable Development (INE) at ZHAW will empirically investigate customer preferences regarding heating systems, contracts and storage solutions. This will form the basis for a comparison of different supply concepts and business models based on simulation-based scenario analysis.
Link to SCCER CREST TREES - Transition of regional energy systems
