District heating in Fribourg: Groupe E digitalizes its increasingly interconnected network with Gradyent
Groupe E Celsius SA, the heating and cooling division of Groupe E, is taking a decisive step in digitalizing its Fribourg district heating network. Together with Gradyent, the company is launching a multi-year partnership for real-time optimization of production and the network, and for monitoring of client substations.
A network in transformation
The Fribourg district heating network is growing and changing at a rapid pace. Several sub-networks that were historically operated separately are currently merging into one interconnected network. By 2030, the connected capacity is set to increase significantly, driven by new heat pumps and additional production sites, among other things. For operations, this means more production units, more setpoints to manage and more interactions across the network.
"Our network is growing and changing faster than traditional control curves can effectively manage. With Gradyent’s Digital Twin, we get for the first time a tool that models the hydraulics of our entire system in real time, and that allows us to think growth and security of supply together,” says Timothée Demierre, Project Manager at Groupe E and responsible for the Fribourg district heating network. At the same time, Groupe E aims to supply the network entirely with renewable energy by 2049. Around 70% of the district heating delivered across the group already comes from renewable sources.
This is exactly where the partnership with Gradyent comes in.
Three building blocks for a converging network
With Gradyent’s physics-based real-time Digital Twin, Groupe E gains a continuous picture of the hydraulics of the entire network and the ability to steer temperatures and production units in the context of the whole system. Three building blocks are at the center of the collaboration:
Plan production dispatch day-ahead. For heat pumps and combined heat and power (CHP) plants, the platform plans dispatch several days ahead, including the buying and selling of energy, on a network that is structurally changing all the time. It respects the increasingly complex hydraulics, so that schedules are always executable.
Replace heating curves with dynamic temperature control. Even in a hydraulically complex network with many different production units and setpoints, the Digital Twin dynamically lowers supply temperatures. The result is lower heat losses and higher heat pump efficiency.
Include the customer side in the optimization. Analyzing return temperatures on the customer side creates additional network capacity. This matters for a network that is set to keep growing.
“When we first saw how the Digital Twin treats our production units, the network and the customer installations as one system instead of separate work areas, it was clear to me: this is the right approach for a network that is changing as much as ours,” says Jérémy Rolle, Client Representative at Groupe E and operationally responsible for implementing the project.
A partnership for the journey to 2030
Groupe E and Gradyent recently signed a five-year contract that will accompany the entire further development of the Fribourg district heating network: end-to-end real-time optimization, from today’s network structure through the integration of new heat pumps and production sites to the expansion planned for 2030.
“Groupe E combines many of the challenges that shape the energy transition today. By providing transparency on the interactions between network and production, we can deliver real added value for day-to-day operations. We are proud of the trust placed in us and look forward to starting this journey together in western Switzerland,” says Volker Clauß, Business Development Director DACH at Gradyent.
Outlook
With every further expansion step, such as the new heat pumps by 2027 or the additional production sites by 2030, the value of the Digital Twin grows as well. The more production units and sub-networks come together, the greater the interactions that can only be steered reliably at whole-system level. That is why Groupe E and Gradyent are building the platform from the start to grow with the network.