5GDHC has the potential to decarbonize our heating and cooling provision. However, the lack of existing project and thus knowlegde of its tariff design is hampering its roll-out. The aim of this research is to provide insight into 5GDHC tariff design and potential tariff structures to support 5GDHC roll-out and thus encourage the uptake of renewable energy in the DHC sector. The exploratory5GDHC tariff design in this study prioritised cost-reflectivity, efficiency and sustainability. Dynamic tariffs aimed at load shifting offer possibilities to promote these objectives. The proposed tariff structures contain a variable demand charge - based on subscription levels - an energy charge and fixed standing cost. Test indicated a significant improvement for cost-reflectivity and efficiency compared to a pure volumetric reference tariff. The sustainability component needs further review, as the results are not conclusive. The criteria that should be fulfilled by future 5GDHC systems are decisive for tariff design options. Moreover, factors influencing 5GDHC design - like role distribution, data security and transaction cost - are becoming increasingly important to consider. Not only do they raise social acceptance issues for the technology itself, they could have a significant impact on the criteria tariff design. The results of this thesis research show that a tariff structure containing a variable demand charge, an either flat or a TOU structured energy charge, and fixed standing cost can promote cost-reflective, economic efficient and sustainable heating and cooling for Dutch households by 5GDHC. Optionally, rebates to increase participation in automated operation can be included.

District heating systems offer great potential for facilitating the transition towards sustainable heating for metropolitan areas. This research provides an overview of roles and factors relevant to DH systems, identifies stakeholder types, their interests and influence, shows the relationship to system requirements and the lack of stakeholder involvement in the heat planning process. A three-step descriptive system design framework is presented, followed by the identification of improvements for the planning process.

Of the global energy demand, 20% can be allocated to residential energy demand. Most of this energy is produced by fossil fuels, which raises the importance of energy production in a more sustainable way. In order to do this on the level of residential heating applications, the Dutch government aims to make its residential neighborhoods natural gas-free. An often considered solution is making residential areas all-electric. However, when considering the heating of these households based on electricity, high peaks may occur in the electricity grid due to simultaneous heating at times of high demand. This could cause problems regarding the capacity of the electricity grid. Subsequently, the generation of electricity is nowadays associated with relatively high CO2 emissions, raising the awareness for alternative methods of heating. One of these methods is district heating coupled to (more) sustainable energy sources. A problem occurring with this combination is a possible discrepancy between the supply and demand of energy. Therefore, it could be beneficial to implement thermal energy storage in district heating. This research assesses the feasibility of different configurations of thermal energy storage integrated into district heating. For this research, a case study is conducted in which district heating for a residential area coupled with thermal energy storage is modeled. The model is based on the thermodynamic equilibrium of the network and is able to compute the required characteristics and key performance indicators of the district heating network. For the case study, multiple scenarios have been created which assess different distribution characteristics and heat sources. For reference, an all-electric scenario has been designed as well. The results of the case study show that the implementation of thermal energy storage in district heating is able to lower peak loads on the heat source by two-thirds. This implementation goes paired with an increase in levelized cost of energy of 10-16% and 8-73% higher CO2 emissions, compared to district heating without storage and depending on the characteristics of the district heating net and its heat source. However, for certain heat sources, the advantages of thermal energy storage outweigh the drawbacks or thermal energy storage might even be considered to be inevitable. This is especially the case for renewable heat sources, of which its share in the future energy market is considered to be substantial. Also, the results show that every scenario considering district heating performs better on levelized cost of energy and CO2 emissions than the all-electric scenario. When designing new DH projects, it is key that different available heat sources will be considered and that an accurate trade-off is made between the advantages and drawbacks of thermal energy storage. This research is based on the comparison of various scenarios for a case study. Therefore, it does not focus on finding the optimal parameters for either district heating or thermal energy storage. For finding these optimal parameters, future research must be conducted.

Dutch homes use 70% of their total energy consumption for domestic hot water purposes and space heating. Currently, this energy is yielded through the use of natural gas. In order to meet Dutch Climate Agreement goals, which were agreed upon December 2018, Low Temperature District Heating (LTDH) is expected as being the most promising sustainable heat energy system solution for dense populated districts. To produce sustainable heat, Visser & Smit Hanab (V&SH) have developed a geothermal source which extracts heat from shallow surfaces, between 500 and 1250 meters. Currently, this system is only used to provide heat for greenhouses. Greenhouses are in need of heat supply for more than 5000 hours per year. This thesis presents which other technologies are required to make LTDH with Low Temperature Geothermal Heat (LTGH) as main source a success for heating in district areas. For the case, there are 5 LTDH concepts designed to supply heat to the livings with LTGH. The designed LTDH varies in storage methods, supply temperature in the network, and peak heat supply technologies. The used storage methods are Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) and a water tank of 250 liters for each living. The used peak heat supply technologies are decentralized heat pumps, electrical heaters, and a biomass boiler. The following LTDH concepts are designed.1a. Collective peak supply 70 ⁰C2a. Decentral peak supply 70 ⁰C1b. Collective peak supply 50 ⁰C2b. Decentral peak supply 50 ⁰C3. Decentralized heat pumps using 30 ⁰C supply temperatureBased on Key Performance Indicators, these LTDH concepts are compared with each other. Throughout a thermodynamic and economic analysis, it appeard that LTDH concept 3, where decentralized heat pumps are used, scores the best on all the KPIs. concept. That is because the central heat pump, of the other concepts, consumes the most electricity of all the technologies in the system and is always on throughout the entire year. The average efficiency, over a year, of an air heat pump is higher than that of the central heat pump at the LTGH. This is because the air heat pump is switched off when there is no heat demand and with an LTDH, there are losses in the network and the ATES.Future research must be done on the electricity consumption of the central heat pump from the LTGH. If the heat pump can consume less electricity, the load on the electricity during cold hours can be reduced and throughout a year CO2 emissions can be reduced. Also, future research must be done on optimizing the LTDH concepts, so that the savings in CO2 emissions and LCOE will improve. In addition, an NPV analysis should be done to determine how the costs are distributed over the stakeholders.