The disclosure relates to a method for controlling a thermal energy distribution system, the method comprising: determining forecast data pertaining to expected overall outtake of heat and/or cooling over time from a distribution grid by local distribution systems connected to the distribution grid, and to expected production capacity of heat and/or cooling in one or more production plants, determining, at a control server, a time resolved control signal, the control signal being based on forecast data and being associated with at least one local control unit, sending the control signal from the control server to the associated local control unit, receiving the control signal at the associated local control unit, regulating over time, in response to the control signal, the outtake of heat and/or cooling of the local distribution system from the distribution grid. The thermal energy distribution system is also claimed.

A heat pump network is described. In one aspect a distributed heat pump network used in a district heating architecture is described.

A district energy system includes at least one energy provisioning unit, an energy management controller; a thermal distribution network coupled to the energy provisioning units and to a plurality of coupling interfaces connectable to the associated HVAC system of buildings within a district, and an electrical distribution network coupled to the energy provisioning units and to the coupling interfaces. The coupling interfaces may include both heat pumps and heat exchangers at each building, to provide heating, cooling and enable harvesting of normally wasted thermal energy from the buildings for re-distribution. The controller can manage the selection and number of energy provisioning units (and their operational set points) coupled to the district thermal distribution network and the electrical distribution network to meet the thermal and electrical demands of the district while satisfying other operational goals such as the minimization of greenhouse gas emissions.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for recovery of waste energy from a battery energy storage system. A system includes a battery energy storage system including one or more rechargeable batteries; an energy recovery system coupled to the battery energy storage system, wherein the energy recovery system is configured to: capture heat generated by one or more of charging and discharging the one or more rechargeable batteries; and store or use energy associated with the captured heat.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for low temperature waste heat utilization. In the scope of the hot water plant (HWP) there are few low temperature sources, which cannot be used by heat consumer (HC) directly. The method and apparatus for hot water power plant (HWP) waste heat recovery comprises at least one, preferably condensing type heat exchanger (HE), which collects the waste heat for water source high temperature heat pump (HP) employment, wherein a low temperature heat is upgraded to a high temperature heat, hence heat pump (HP) hot water outlet is fed to the boiler in a return line or in a supply line of hot water plant (HWP), wherein the thermal energy balance adjustment of generated heat is executed by adapting the power of said heat pump (HP) and/or by adapting the power of said furnace and/or by adapting the mass flow of the primary heat transfer medium in at least one open loop heating network and/or in at least one closed loop heating circuit in the scope of heat distribution network.

A local heating system is presented. The local heating system comprising: a first heat source (10) connectable to a heating grid (110) and arranged to extract heat from the heating grid (110); a second heat source (20) connectable to an electrical energy grid (120) and to transform electricity feed through the electrical energy grid (120) into heat; a heat emitting device (30); a distribution system (40) for circulating heat transfer fluid between the heat emitting device (30) and the first and second heat sources (10, 20); and a controller (50) configured to control the first and second heat source's (10, 20) relative outtake of heat from the heating grid (110) and the electrical energy grid (120), respectively.

A heat extracting system (100) arranged to be connected to a thermal energy circuit (300) comprising a hot conduit (302) configured to allow thermal fluid of a first temperature to flow therethrough, and a cold conduit (304) configured to allow thermal fluid of a second temperature to flow therethrough, the second temperature is lower than the first temperature, and a heat depositing system (200) arranged to be connected to a thermal energy circuit (300) comprising a hot conduit (302) configured to allow thermal fluid of a first temperature to flow therethrough, and a cold conduit (304) configured to allow thermal fluid of a second temperature to flow therethrough, the second temperature is lower than the first temperature. Also a heat depositing system (200) is disclosed.

A cold water intake pipe 4 and a hot water extraction pipe 5 that communicate with multiple spiral tubes 101 and a steam supplying pipe 2 and a condensate discharge pipe 3 that communicate with a shell are connected to a corrugated spiral tube type heat exchanger 1. Between the cold water intake pipe 4 and multiple spiral tubes 101, communication paths 46 that communicate between the cold water intake pipe 4 and some multiple spiral tubes 101a are provided, and a valve 44 is provided to communicate between the cold water intake pipe 4 and the other multiple spiral tubes 101b when the force acting from the cold water intake pipe 4 becomes larger than the force acting from the other multiple spiral tubes 101b and to block the cold water intake pipe 4 from the other multiple spiral tubes 101b when the force acting from the cold water intake pipe 4 becomes smaller than the force acting from the other multiple spiral tubes 101b.

The present invention relates to a method for controlling setting of reversible heat pump assemblies (100) of a district thermal energy distribution system (1) in either a heating mode or a cooling mode. The method comprises: determining, at a control server, a first set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100) to be set in the heating mode during a future time period; determining, at the control server, a second set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100) to be set in the cooling mode during the future time period, wherein the second set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100) is separate from the first set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100); sending, from the control server (200) to the reversible heat pump assemblies (100) of the first set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100), a respective control message to set the respective reversible heat pump assembly (100) in the heating mode for the future time period; sending, from the control server (200) to the reversible heat pump assemblies (100) of the second set of the reversible heat pump assemblies (100), a respective control message to set the respective reversible heat pump assembly (100) in the cooling mode for the future time period; and setting the respective reversible heat pump assembly (100) in either the heating mode or the cooling mode for the future time period.

A heat accumulator for storing and providing heat energy accruing when power is generated, includes a tank for a fluid, including an expansion line, which exits from the tank and which extends above the tank in order to increase the static pressure in the tank, the expansion line having an open end opposite the tank-side end for establishing a connection between the tank interior and the atmosphere, wherein the expansion line extends into the tank. A method for storing and providing heat energy accruing when power is generated wherein the fluid is used in a district heating grid and is stored in a tank.