Use Case 6: Milan, Italy

  • Use Case Area of Application: This use case aims to exploit RESTORE in small-scale DHC networks.
  • Expected goals to be achieved: Apply the RESTORE concept to a small DHC network available at Politecnico di Milano campus and representative of small size decentralized solutions.

Use Case Description

Politecnico di Milano adopts a small DH network to provide electricity and heat to a relevant fraction of campus offices, classrooms and laboratories serving approximately 120.000 mq. Moreover, cooling is also provided to some buildings during the summer season. Maximum thermal power request is around 15 MWth and thermal plant of the DHC encompasses three natural gas boilers of 6 MWth each and one natural gas internal combustion engine in CHP configuration able to provide 2 MWel plus 1.8 MWth. Cooling power 1.25 MW is generated by one absorption chiller (LiBr) exploiting CHP unit waste heat. The CHP unit is operated in thermal load following and most of electrical energy (80%) is for internal consumption while the remaining (20%) is sold to the grid. Annual hours of operations of the CHP unit thanks to the integration with the cooling network is around 5000 h. In addition to the DHC network, the Energy Department of Politecnico di Milano located in Bovisa Campus can also provide accurate information on the availability of solar PV energy thanks to the availability of PV panels of different technologies for a total 75 kWel and a storage system constituted by 70kWh Lithium-ion Samsung battery. All the quantities related to DHC network, the thermal plant operation and the PV fields are continuously monitored and detailed dataset are available for the last years of operation.

uc6 milano polimi
Aerial view of Politecnico di Milano Campus Leonardo and the DH/DHC Plant

Community addressed

Politecnico di Milano is composed of seven campuses distributed in the cities of Milano (Leonardo and Bovisa campuses), Como, Lecco, Cremona, Mantova and Piacenza. Use Case VI considers the DHC network that serves the Leonardo and Bovisa Campuses in Milan which is an example of an independent network in a city largely served by a centralized district heating.