Last year, the number of heat networks in Flanders increased from 56 to 76. This is apparent from the second heat network report published by the VREG. The report also shows that non-domestic users are still the largest consumers of these heat networks. A heat network is an underground circulation pipe that reuses residual heat for heating and hot water.
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The Flemish Regulator of the Electricity and Gas Market (VREG) has been supervising heating and cooling networks in Flanders for two years now and collects a great deal of information. During the past year, the number of reports from heat networks rose from 56 to 76, and the heat supplied to the networks surveyed by VREG rose by 23 percent to 834 GWh in 2020. there is clearly a steady growth”, says the VREG.
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In addition, the report also shows that non-domestic users, especially companies, most often use the heat supplied. This is due to the high volumes of energy exchanged in industrial heat networks. The number of final customers rose to 4,105 in 2020 from 1,990 the year before, of which only 271 were households.
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heat prices
For the first time, research was also conducted into the current heat prices within the Flemish heat networks and the way in which the prices are determined. For an average consumption, calculated over the known heat networks, the annual cost for households with an individual contract for heating via a heat network is between 300 and 900 euros. Although this appears to be an enormous spread, a similar distribution can be seen in other European countries.
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According to Swedish research, the reasons for this lie in the age of the network (new networks have investments that have yet to be written off and are therefore more expensive), the distance between the consumers of the network (the further apart they are, the more expensive the supply is). ) and the choice of fuel type, although it is limited in Flanders as most suppliers follow natural gas prices when determining the energy cost.
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In the future, the VREG wants to make additional efforts to develop a clear future vision for the regulation of heating and cooling networks in Flanders, taking into account any policy developments. The question that arises is whether the current regulations are sufficient or should they be improved, and if so, how? A contribution that the VREG can make is the elaboration of a Technical Regulation for heat and cold networks in which a number of procedures that many heat networks have in common are formalized and standardized.
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