Abstract. The role of the building sector in carbon neutrality has been widely discussed, particularly in relation to how heating and cooling demands are supplied and managed. In this context, low-temperature district heating and cooling concepts, including fifth-generation systems, have received growing attention. The present study examines a 5GDHC configuration implemented at the Gachon University demonstration site, focusing on how network temperature operation and thermal energy storage influence system behavior. Simulation results suggest that the network temperature affects heating and cooling performance in different ways, depending on load conditions and seasonal operation. In several cases, fixed temperature operation did not provide stable performance across operating modes. When Power-to-Heat (P2H) operation was introduced, surplus electricity could be stored as thermal energy, and the self-consumption rate increased from 36.8% to 54.2%. These results indicate that coordinated control of network temperature and thermal storage may improve the practical operation of 5GDHC systems under real operating conditions.
Choi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.