Technical and Economic Reconstruction Proposal for Gas Boiler Plant to Satisfy Efficient District Heating System Requirements

The paper presents the efficiency criteria for heat and cooling supply for a so-called efficient district heating and cooling system as defined in Directive 2023/1791 on energy efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955. The criteria apply to operators of all existing DH/C systems with total heat and cooling output exceeding 5 MW. In Slovakia, numerous DH systems with total heat output less than 5 MW have been in operation since the 1980s. According to Article 26, paragraph 5 of EU directive, the requirement for so called efficient heating does not apply to operators of these DH systems. So, there is a question whether it is technically and economically suitable to reconstruct heat sources of DH systems with total heat output less than 5 MW. The presented paper analyses a proposed reconstruction of a gas boiler plant with a total heat output of 2.83 MW < 5 MW to meet the criteria of an efficient district heating system.