Spatial energy planning for the heat turnaround

From 2018 till 2021

Spatial Energy Planning (SEP) has the potential to become a game-changer for the heating sector and will become an important lever for the integration of innovative and sustainable heating technologies and new market models. The upheaval on the energy market requires information and coordination in order to exploit the potential of all renewable energy forms and to make the best possible use of available resources and infrastructures. Market imperfections must be resolved, investment security must be guaranteed and new business models (especially for grid-based heating supply) must be made possible.

The application of SEP in the instruments of public management, (regulation and governance) can make a significant contribution to the necessary support, coordination and cost efficiency (of investments and financing) in the heat turnaround. Innovative local authorities are willing to take an active role. In this project, three federal states (Vienna, Styria, Salzburg), their capitals and pioneering communities of all sizes as well as the most renowned Austrian research institutions in the field of technology are working together to provide all necessary foundations for the introduction of spatial heat planning – as a role model for Austria and other European states.

How can digitisation help?

Digitisation makes it possible to provide all the necessary foundations. HEATatlas provides the complex urban energy interrelationships, e.g. potentials of renewable energy sources, infrastructure and dynamic heating and cooling demands in high spatial resolution and thus makes long-term energy and infrastructure planning possible. The necessary foundation of the HEATatlas is reliable and updated data in high granularity. Together with the partners of the public administration, the project can guarantee the best available information. Research institutions throughout Europe have developed sophisticated concepts and models for the representation of thermal densities. The project pulls these together and, with its practical relevance, creates a synthesis that can be used directly for the purposes of spatial energy planning in public administrations.

In addition, energy zone concepts are discussed and deepened as a central basis for public regulation and administrative processes. As the core of the system, a HEATapp prototype will be programmed that enables automated queries and sound analyses and prepares the implementation of SEP in the three concrete application areas of public administration: area development, spatial planning and development, and monitoring of energy strategies.

Programming compatible with OGD and basemap.at will support the functionality in all regional and urban GIS infrastructures of the participating regions and beyond.

Innovation is in the process – The unique constellation of partners, a high degree of implementation orientation and extensive multiplication possibilities make the project a strong lever for the heat turnaround.

Project management:

• Alexander Rehbogen, SIR – Salzburger Institut für Raumordnung und Wohnen