USE CASE
Planning the Heat and Energy Supply for Residential Quarters

Challenge: Energy Planning in the Neighborhood

The sustainable and efficient supply of electricity, heating, and cooling to residential areas plays a crucial role in modern urban and neighborhood development. In view of rising energy prices, growing regulatory requirements and the goal of climate neutrality, the planning of these systems is becoming increasingly complex. Residential quarters offer the opportunity to make optimum use of synergies between different energy sources, generation technologies, and consumers.

More Than Just Heat Generation: Diverse Requirements For Modern Energy Planning

Whereas in the past, heat generation for buildings focused primarily on low investment costs, today's requirements are significantly higher. In addition to pure heat generation, sector coupling, storage, and marketing play an important role. Sustainability and legal requirements are also coming into focus.

This makes the calculation for district supply more complex and planning much more challenging because synergies between technologies and energy sources are not always immediately apparent. A well thought-out analysis is therefore crucial in order to find the most economical and efficient solution.

The Solution: Efficient Energy Optimization With TOP-Energy

With TOP-Energy, you can model, analyze, and optimize complex sector-coupled energy systems on an intuitive graphical interface. The software provides you with a sound basis for decision-making thanks to objective key figures—from energy costs and CO2 emissions to the self sufficiency rate.

Step by Step to the Ideal District Solution—Overview of Functions

  • Time series analysis: integration of weather data, load profiles, and dynamic energy prices
  • Comparison of variants: direct comparison of up to four supply concepts
  • Sensitivity analysis: evaluation of uncertain parameters (e.g., price development)
  • Structural optimization: calculation of the optimum system configuration and plant sizes

Use These Analyses, Among Others, for Your Optimal Planning

Variant Analysis

  • Comparison of different heating and supply structures taking into account the complexity of the entire energy system
  • Holistic evaluation of investment costs (CAPEX), operating costs (OPEX), security of supply, and environmental compatibility
  • Sound basis for decision-making thanks to objective criteria

Parameterization With Time Series

  • Consideration of time-varying factors such as energy prices or weather data
  • Determining the effects of fluctuations on efficiency, costs, and security of supply
  • Optimization of systems under real conditions and future scenarios
  • Import, visualization, and adaptation of time series for tailor-made simulations

Advantages of Sensitivity Analysis

  • Evaluation of the impact of uncertain energy prices on profitability
  • Identification of risks and opportunities for optimal decisions
  • Development of robust strategies for future legal requirements and price structures

Structural Optimization

Using multi-parameter studies and structural optimization, you can determine perfectly coordinated systems. Sensitivity analyses enable you to make the right investment decisions that are robust even in uncertain future electricity and gas price structures and scenarios.

TOP-Energy Provides a Library With Over 200 Components

The user-friendly software with its intuitive graphical interface not only facilitates the creation and parameterization of smaller models, but also the clear representation of large and complex energy systems. With these and other components, TOP-Energy paves the way for the use of renewable energies and enables a realistic assessment of the use of these technologies based on the actual technical, economic, and ecological values.

Target Groups of TOP-Energy: Who Benefits From the Software?

Urban planners, energy consultants, utility companies, engineering firms, contracting companies, project developers, operating companies, housing associations, municipal administrations