<p>Abstract</p><p>Background</p><p>The Swedish district heat market of today is a subject being discussed regarding the reasonableness of the heat district supplier’s price settings. The issue is currently on a government level where a new investigation is being executed at the time of writing. Many real estate owners are growing tired of the situation where the heat district suppliers are taking advantage of their monopoly position, thus feeling that the price of district heating has been increasing far too much for many years. The market can be described as a natural monopoly because the real estate owner has no possibility to choose another supplier if they are unsatisfied with the present. Consequently, the real estate owner is in a weak situation with little prospect for negotiating regarding the price settings. The real estate owner cannot really do anything but to accept if the heat district supplier decides to accomplish a price rising. The consequences are huge in terms of economics.Since district heat is by far the dominating heating technique used in Sweden today, this is something that affects many people in the end. Despite being an extensive problem, there are surprisingly few people taking active part in the discussion, perhaps because the problem is so complex and complicated. This is a reason for us to shed light upon the district heat market and what real alternatives to district heat a real estate owner actually has.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose is to describe and analyze the district heat market out of a real estate owner’s perspective. By examining the real estate owner’s situation we will describe which incentives that exist for a heating technique exchange, in those cases district heat is being used.</p><p>Research Method</p><p>To reach this purpose we have chosen to work with a qualitative method of examining. We have made interviews with those responsible of energy systems for the biggest real estate owners in Sweden. These respondents have been well familiar with the district heat issue and we will describe their current situation and views of this matter.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Despite being unsatisfied with today’s district heat situation, big real estate owners in Sweden do not see a possibility to replace district heat as the primary heat technique. Heat pumps and pellets are considered as being complements to district heat, and are as such installed where conditions are favorable. The incentives to replace district heat are solely economic. Though, many times practical issues are in the way, such as no physical space for bigger installations. District heat also required less maintenance. Bedrock heat pumps are especially interesting in situations with properties that require comfort cold (offices and stores), since bedrock heat pumps can offer this cold for free.</p>

Abstract Background The Swedish district heat market of today is a subject being discussed regarding the reasonableness of the heat district supplier’s price settings. The issue is currently on a government level where a new investigation is being executed at the time of writing. Many real estate owners are growing tired of the situation where the heat district suppliers are taking advantage of their monopoly position, thus feeling that the price of district heating has been increasing far too much for many years. The market can be described as a natural monopoly because the real estate owner has no possibility to choose another supplier if they are unsatisfied with the present. Consequently, the real estate owner is in a weak situation with little prospect for negotiating regarding the price settings. The real estate owner cannot really do anything but to accept if the heat district supplier decides to accomplish a price rising. The consequences are huge in terms of economics.Since district heat is by far the dominating heating technique used in Sweden today, this is something that affects many people in the end. Despite being an extensive problem, there are surprisingly few people taking active part in the discussion, perhaps because the problem is so complex and complicated. This is a reason for us to shed light upon the district heat market and what real alternatives to district heat a real estate owner actually has. Purpose The purpose is to describe and analyze the district heat market out of a real estate owner’s perspective. By examining the real estate owner’s situation we will describe which incentives that exist for a heating technique exchange, in those cases district heat is being used. Research Method To reach this purpose we have chosen to work with a qualitative method of examining. We have made interviews with those responsible of energy systems for the biggest real estate owners in Sweden. These respondents have been well familiar with the district heat issue and we will describe their current situation and views of this matter. Conclusion Despite being unsatisfied with today’s district heat situation, big real estate owners in Sweden do not see a possibility to replace district heat as the primary heat technique. Heat pumps and pellets are considered as being complements to district heat, and are as such installed where conditions are favorable. The incentives to replace district heat are solely economic. Though, many times practical issues are in the way, such as no physical space for bigger installations. District heat also required less maintenance. Bedrock heat pumps are especially interesting in situations with properties that require comfort cold (offices and stores), since bedrock heat pumps can offer this cold for free.

Inom EU finns mål på att sänka utsläppen med 40% till år 2030. I Sverige står bygg och fastighetssektorn för cirka 21% av Sveriges totala utsläpp. För att lyckas nå EU:s klimatmål måste en konvertering till förnybara uppvärmningskällor ske. Region Gotland ansvarar idag för över 500 000m2 fastigheter. Många använder idag pellets till uppvärmning. Pellets ses som klimatneutralt och släpper därför inte ut mer koldioxid än vad trädet plockat upp. Ett problem som uppstår då pelletspannorna kräver underhåll och leveranser. Flera av Region Gotlands fastigheter ligger flera mil iväg från både leverantör och underhållspersonal vilket ökar kostnader och miljöpåverkan än mer. En av dessa fastigheter, brandstationen i Öja, ligger till grund för denna studie. Då det finns flera fastigheter med liknande förutsättningar kan rapporten användas som underlag för dessa. Studien undersöker ifall en konvertering från pelletspannan till en värmepump kan sänka kostnaderna och bidra till lägre utsläpp. Vid en konvertering till värmepump sänks systemtemperaturerna från 80/60 till 55/45 vilket kan skapa problem för befintliga radiatorer, rör och pumpar. Radiatorernas och rörens kompatibilitet med nya temperaturerna under söks därför i studien men pumpar utelämnas för en framtida studie. Med hjälp av transmissionsberäkningar och en formel baserad på grad dagar och tidigare energiförbrukning beräknades ett värmebehov för fastigheten på 23,8 kW den kallaste dagen på året. Med detta kunde tre värmepumplösningar tas fram. Samtliga lösningar innefattar även en ny ackumulatortank då den nuvarande är över 40 år gammal och har ett flertal brister. Med optimering av uppvärmningssystemet genom att sänka temperaturen i de fläktvärmda rummen till 15 grader kan värmebehovet sänkas med 4kW. En undersökning gällande installation av solfångare har även gjorts, där det inte visade sig lönsamt med dagens tappvarmvattenbehov.  Efter de dimensioneringar som gjorts framkommer även att två rörslingor behöver bytas, men att ett eventuellt radiatorbyte lämnas till efter en konvertering för att se om dessa behöver bytas. Undersökningarna visar även att de befintliga fläktvärmarna är överdimensionerade och inte behöver bytas. Utsläppsberäkningar visar att utsläppen kan minskas med 2565 kg CO2 eq per år vid en eventuell konvertering. Payoffmetoden har använts för att visa att de tre lösningarna har en mycket kort återbetalningstid mellan 3,9 år för luft/vattenvärmepumpar från CTC till 4,7 år för Thermias bergvärmelösning. Med hjälp av LCC kalkyler har lösningarna livstidskostnad tagits fram. Ställt mot den be fintliga pelletspannan uppgår besparingen till 879 000kr för Thermias lösning – 966 000kr för CTC:s lösning med en kalkylränta på 1,5%. Slutsatsen är därför att en konvertering till värmepump bör ske för att spara både ekonomiskt men även för att minska utsläppen. / One of EU’s climate goals is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by the year of 2030. In Sweden the “building and real estate sector” stands for 21% of Sweden’s total pollution of greenhouse gas emissions. To reach EU’s goals by 2030 there must be a transformation to renewable sources for use in the heating of real estates. Region Gotland manages over 500 000 m2 of estates. Many of which uses pellet as the source of heating. This heating alternative requires regular deliveries of material and maintenance. Many of the estates in the care of Region Gotland are far away from both the supplier and maintenance team which creates great transport costs and gas emissions. The fire sta- tion in “Öja” is one of them and is the one used in this study. As there are many similar buildings the results here can be used as a foundation for those estates. This study is exploring if a conversion from pellet to a heating pump can lower the expenses and greenhouse gas emissions. By changing to a heat- ing pump from a pellet boiler the temperatures are reduced from 80/60°C to 55/45 °C in the system. This may cause problem with radiators, pumps and pipes. Because of this, radiators and pipes will also be inves- tigated, but pumps will be left out for another study. The heat needed to increase the temperature in the building to 21 °C at a DVUT of -8,7 °C was calculated using transmission losses calculations and a formula based on “graddagar” and earlier energy uses by the estate, to 23,8 kW. Based on the calculated heat, three heating pump solutions were created, all of whom included a new water heater with storage tank. The old storage tank is over 40 years by age and therefore has many short- comings. Using calculations to optimize the heat usage, the heat needed can be re- duced by 4kW at DVUT by lowering the temperature to 15 °C in the fan heated area of the building while still being within the laws of the Swe- dish work environment authority. An investigation was made to see if solar collectors could be used to heat the domestic hot water in the estate. The results showed that in this case it wouldn’t be economically justifiable due to low energy cost with a new heating pump. The calculations done for pipes and radiators showed that two pipes must be replaced but that the radiators are mostly fine with the new tempera- tures. A replacement of the radiators should be left till after the conver- sion. Calculations on the fan heaters showed that there is no need to re- place these. Calculations on greenhouse gas emissions showed that the emissions can be reduce by 2565 kg CO CO2-eq each year if the pellet boiler is replaced by a heating pump. The Pay-off method and LCC calculations was used to show the profita- bility in the three heating pump solutions. The Pay-off time for the solu- tions ranged from CTC’s air to water heating pumps at 3,9 years to 4,7 years for Thermia’s geothermal heating pump. The LCC calculations showed that changing to a heat pump could generate a saving of 879 000 SEK for Thermia’s solution to 966 000 SEK for CTC’s solution. The conclusion is therefore that the pellet boiler should be changed to a heating pump to save money and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.