KIT: Package of measures supports players in municipal sector coupling

Research on municipal coupling of electricity, heating and transport infrastructures in the context of the energy transition: Various energy system components at KIT's North Campus Photo: Markus Breig, KIT

As the smallest administrative units, municipalities can make a significant contribution to implementing the energy transition. For example, by helping citizens to make better use of heat from wastewater. Or by making solar energy mandatory in new buildings to boost the expansion of renewable energies. In the "ZuSkE" project, technology assessment experts from Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) have been looking for ways in which the coupling of electricity, heating and transport infrastructures can be designed and implemented. They worked closely with the municipalities of Berlin, Freilassing and Walldorf. As a guide, the project team has compiled a catalogue with a total of 100 measures that have already been implemented and developed further tools to support local authorities.

Local integration of transport, heat and electricity production

"The energy transition is being driven by people, and they live and work in cities and communities. It therefore makes sense to think about the energy transition from the local level", says Dr. Dirk Scheer, who conducts research at Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse (ITAS) at KIT and led the recently completed project „ZuSkE: Die Zukunft der Sektorkopplung auf kommunaler Ebene“. "As we are faced with the challenge of replacing fossil fuels with electricity almost everywhere, we can no longer look at individual sectors in isolation from one another", continued Scheer.

The aim of the project commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection was therefore to develop approaches for how municipalities can interlink transport, heat and electricity production in the future in such a way that all sectors can be decarbonised quickly and efficiently.

The system image illustrates the potential of networking electricity, heating and transport infrastructures in municipalities. (Image: ITAS, KIT)

Utilising the potential of municipalities for sector coupling

The KIT researchers investigated how this can work with representatives from politics, municipal utilities, administration, companies and citizens from Berlin, Freilassing and Walldorf.

The result: municipalities have a wide range of options for driving forward sector coupling. "As energy suppliers, municipal utilities can, for example, increasingly rely on geothermal energy, expand their district heating or utilise surplus electricity from wind or solar plants with 'power-to-gas plants' for heat supply", says Ines Jendritzki, who also worked on the ZuSkE project for ITAS.

As owners and operators of large properties, local authorities can also set a good example themselves, for example by using solar energy in their buildings and combining this with charging stations for their electric vehicle fleets. Local councils also have the opportunity to create a regulatory framework, for example by promoting the purchase of cargo bikes or developing a municipal heating plan.

Best practice, strategy box, 10-point plan

According to the researchers, it is crucial that each municipality develops customised packages of measures that are tailored to the respective local conditions and coordinated with one another. In order to facilitate practical implementation, they have developed several handouts that municipalities can use to tackle the cross-sectoral turnaround.

A catalogue with a total of 100 already implemented sector coupling measures is now available to local authorities as a guide for transformation strategies.

The researchers have also designed a didactic tool for municipal stakeholders in the form of a "strategy box". In addition, a "10-point plan" is available, which presents the central steps for municipal sector coupling, from the survey of the current situation to the development of a transformation path to the appropriate communication strategy.

KIT's project partners were Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft (FfE) and Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler (VdW) with Zivilgesellschaftliche Plattform Forschungswende und Dialogik.

(Source: KIT)

Further information on the project and the project results: https://kommunale-sektorkopplung.ffe.de/