On Bornholm various ecoTools are going to be tested as part of the project. In order to do so the local utility company (Bornholms Energy & Supply) is collaborating with various types of district heating customers. One of the objectives on Bornholm is to investigate how sector coupling between electricity and district heating can aid the needed green transition towards a fossil free future.
Recently the required equipment to determine the district heating demand have been installed in several private housings, a church, a school and an indoor swimming pool and the needed data is being collected. The high-resolution data from a wide variety of buildings will in near future create insightful knowledge about flexible energy usage and production as the output form the demand side management system will be used to control four electric boilers, 0,6 MW each, to produce district heating when electricity prices are low, and the demand is present.
The installation process has been a learning by doing experience as the needed equipment for each location to function properly was different. A variety of communication protocols have been used. As an example, long range (LoRa) equipment was needed to ensure a stable communication between the gateway and sensors at the church as the thickness of the ancient church was blocking the signal when using standard communication protocols.
