An exemplary heating and cooling network with electricity generation
The PARC BIT Technology Park's heating and cooling network It has become a benchmark facility for public networks nationwide. It features a trigeneration plant to produce heat, cooling, and electricity; an energy system designed for maximum efficiency.
The plant brings together and efficiently utilizes a mix of renewable energies (solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and biomass) to displace non-renewable energies by an increasingly higher percentage.
It takes advantage of some of the existing residual energy and effectively manages the adjustment of demands and consumption, streamlining the processes of energy generation and storage and reducing transport losses.
The Parc Bit plant can generate 2,920 kW of electrical energy, 7,800 kW of cooling and 6,200 kW of heat, supplying electricity, heating and air conditioning to the business park and several buildings of the University of the Balearic Islands through its 15 kilometers of pipes and 50 thermal substations distributed throughout the buildings.
Hotels and aquatic facilities, the ideal segment for renewable energies in the Balearic Islands
The most important consumer segment in the Balearic Islands for integrating renewable energies is that of hotel complexes and apartments, which is well distributed across the islands. There are already excellent examples of biomass use in this area. We highlight the heating and cooling networks at the Park Hyatt Mallorca Resort and the Robinson Cala Serena Hotel, which have significantly reduced their carbon footprint and become global benchmarks for sustainable hotels. Both resorts have heated pools and spas.
In the Balearic Islands there are 59 public heated swimming pools, of which 13 already consume biomass, two of them forming part of a network: the Es Raspallar sports complex and the Sant Josep municipal swimming pool, both in Ibiza.
Similarly, the Balearic Islands have the highest number of hotels in all of Spain with heated swimming pools, a service that consumes a large amount of thermal energy. AVEBIOM Biomass Observatory It has 321 references, of which 14 already consume biomass.
Investing in new biomass-powered heating and cooling networks, like those already in operation, can successfully contribute to the decarbonization of the tourism sector. These networks can even be built to serve several nearby resorts.
BIOMASS-FIRED HEATING AND COOLING NETWORKS IN THE BALEARIC COMMUNITY
Source: AVEBIOM Biomass Observatory
Number of Heating and Cooling Networks: 7
Installed power: 3,530 kW
Energy generated [Thermal Heat Demand]: 9,533 MWh/year
Cumulative length of networks: 17.8 km
Number of buildings supplied: 68
Amounts of biomass consumed annually in the Networks:
Wood chips: 2,159 tons/year
Pellet: 435 tons/year
How to finance heating and cooling networks with biomass
The MITECO, through ORDER TED/707/2022, of July 21, has launched the First call for aid for district heating network projects with renewable energy of more than 1 MW, endowed with 100 million euros.
On the other hand, the RD1124/2021 It encourages the implementation of renewable thermal energies in different sectors of the economy: agriculture, services, both public and private, and industry. Among the facilities that can qualify for these incentives are microgrids for heating and/or cooling with biomass, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% compared to the fossil fuel option.