IEA publishes new ‘Renewables in District Energy’ report – relevant role for bioenergy

The International Energy Agency recently released its Renewables in District Energy report. While the report covers various renewable energy, the report also highlights the contribution of bioenergy for district heating.

Download the full report “Renewables in District Energy”

Bioenergy, primarily from solid biofuels, is currently the largest renewable energy source in district energy systems globally. While its contribution varies across regions, in some countries it makes up more than 60% of total energy supply in district heating networks, the reports states.

Several factors have supported the widespread deployment of bioenergy in district energy systems over recent decades. These include policies designed to strengthen energy security and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, access to readily available and cost-competitive biomass feedstocks from established agricultural and forest sector value chains, and business models capable of efficiently aggregating and supplying these fuels scale.

IEA expects that bioenergy remains the largest renewable energy source in district energy by 2030, but the report also mentioned that significant growth potential remains. Existing networks already serve around 600 million people, yet nearly 1.2 billion people live in urban areas with cold winters. As a dispatchable source of renewable heat that complements other renewable energy technologies – and can deliver net-negative emissions when paired with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (BECCUS) – bioenergy is well positioned to support the continued expansion of renewable energy in district energy systems.

To unlock that potential, the following is required:

• Maintaining sustainable, reliable, and cost-competitive biomass supply chains, taking to account growing demand for feedstock across the broader bioeconomy for bioenergy, biomaterials, and biochemicals.
• Creating renewable heat targets, and policies, for all sources of renewable energy that provide long-term investment signals for project developers and supply chain actors, while incentivizing the use of low-emissions and net-negative heat through policies such as reverse auctions.
• Identifying opportunities to integrate bioenergy with other renewable energy sources to maximise its value as a flexible, dispatchable, renewable source of heat.
• Continuing to provide funding, and develop partnerships, that supports innovation and scale up of technologies such as BECCUS.

More background information on the new IEA report can be found here

Visit also the special IEA-webpage for the regional trends in district heating here