Veolia optimises and future-proofs its district heating systems with Gradyent
Veolia in Poland is one of the largest district heating operators in the country, which provides heating services in many cities and manages district heating networks of various sizes. Among them are three large agglomerations: Łódź, Poznań and Warsaw, Poland's capital where Veolia is responsible for operating the longest district heating network in the European Union.
The company is going through an ongoing transformation of district heating systems towards 4G systems to build a solid foundation for a decarbonised future with low temperatures and multiple-source district heating networks. Veolia is consistently striving to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Challenge
Energy efficiency is a priority, and Veolia in Poland provides a wide range of efficiency solutions under a favourable ESCO model. Digitalisation is considered seen as a key ingredient to prepare for the future with more distributed sources and lower temperatures in the network as well as more heat storage options in accumulators, in the network or even buildings.
Veolia’s future ambitions call for a digital solution that can grasp the complexity and potential of the full district heating system and optimise it from end to end, i.e. from production units, through a distribution network to demand side, in an integrated manner and within a single platform.
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Solution
Veolia in Poland and Gradyent began their digitalisation journey in the city of Łódź in October 2023 and is expanding to Poznań in 2024. Both heating systems are set to undergo a fast-paced transformation to allow the company to reach its climate neutrality objectives.
The solution – Gradyent’s Digital Twin platform – will create a digital copy of the company's complex physical heating system that combines geographic, weather and sensor data with physics-based and AI models in real-time.
Veolia in Poland was therefore looking for a partner who could understand and leverage the complexity of the company's extensive network, who had experience with large-scale network transformation projects and who could ensure that the solution offered was the most pragmatic. We believe that by partnering with Gradyent, we will jointly define the future of district heating, in which the network runs at lower temperatures while being optimised from source through the network to the consumer and against electricity markets.
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Results
In the first phase of the project in Łódź, the management of the district heating network will be optimised by supporting dispatchers in their daily work and providing them with the information required to run the network and sources efficiently. The solution will consider heat demand, weather forecasts and electricity pricing. In Poznań, additional activities will include optimising the operation of substations in the system.
“We are proud to work with one of the largest district heating operators of Europe to reduce CO2 emissions, but also improve performance, save on operating costs and make smarter business decisions.”
Hervé Huisman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Gradyent