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2023 (English)In: Energies, E-ISSN 1996-1073, Vol. 16, no 12, article id 4790Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Positive energy district (PED) is a novel idea aimed to have an annual surplus of renewable energy and net zero greenhouse gas emissions within an area. However, it is still an ambiguous concept, which might be due to the complexity of city district projects with interconnected infrastructures and numerous stakeholders involved. This study discusses various aspects of PED implementation and presents practitioners’ experiences with the PED concept, challenges, and facilitators they have faced with real projects. The study is based on interviews with ten Swedish professionals. The major challenges reported for PED implementation were local energy production and energy flexibility, sub-optimization, legislation, suitable system boundaries, and involvement of stakeholders. Most of the interviewees mentioned improved collaboration, integrated innovative technology, political support, and climate change mitigation goals as important facilitators. The interviewees highlighted the importance of a local perspective and considered each city’s preconditions when developing a PED project. The study emphasizes that to facilitate PED implementation and replication in cities, more knowledge and clarity is required about PED such as on the definition and system boundaries. © 2023 by the authors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2023
Keywords
energy transition, positive energy district, replication, stakeholder perspective, sustainable urban development, Climate change, Greenhouse gases, Urban growth, Energy transitions, Exploratory studies, Positive energies, Renewable energies, Swedishs, System boundary, Gas emissions
National Category
Energy Systems
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-65708 (URN)10.3390/en16124790 (DOI)2-s2.0-85163812620 (Scopus ID)
Note
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Swedish Energy Agency for the project number 52686-1 “RESILIENTa Energisystem Kompetenscentrum”. The ten interviewees represent seven projects in Sweden: Brunnshög, FED (fossil-free energy district), Hammarby Sjöstad, Nanna, Norra Djurgårdsstaden, RUGGEDISED, and Tamarinden. Three projects are facilitated by the municipality, RUGGEDISED, and is a smart city project funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, and Johanneberg Science Park was the coordinator of one project. The remaining two projects are led by the Royal institute of technology (KTH), Stockholm and ElectriCITY. The projects are located in five Swedish cities, and of the seven projects, three were initiated after 2019. Three projects have a district size between 2–2.4 km, and one project is 0.05 km. The latter project will have around 7000 apartments, while the other three projects (mainly residential and commercial areas) will make housing for between 20,000 and 40,000 residents, and two of the projects reported that there will be 20,000 and 35,000 workplaces in the area, respectively. Of the remaining three projects, one is based in a parking garage and two are located at campuses. 2 2
2023-08-092023-08-092023-11-21Bibliographically approved