Heat Network Optimisation
The performance issues on heat networks are often poorly understood. This can lead to ongoing reliability and performance issues associated, with limited understanding of the information required to identify and resolve the issues. Ultimately, this can cause substantial ongoing performance issues, leading to high heat costs and high maintenance costs.
FairHeat provides clients with the visibility and understanding of their network’s performance by:
- Initial review of existing documentation and data, in order to identify potential areas of concern.
- Conduct site audit of the main energy center, all heat substations, commercial unit connections, a sample of risers across the site and a sample of representative dwellings.
- Produce report to document the current performance of the heat network and highlight any potential root causes of any reliability issues or sub-optimal performance.
- Development of metrics, targets and KPIs for the performance improvements.
Heat network performance is not typically analysed rigorously, which means that the root causes of issues are typically not fully understood by clients. As the heat network performance is not analysed, it is difficult to assess the benefits of resolving the identified performance issues.
FairHeat reviews heat network performance using all available heat meter data and BMS data to identify the root causes for performance issues. Furthermore, FairHeat, develops a heat network model to assess the current performance of the heat network and also assess the impact of intervention measures on the heat network performance.
High level improvement design is not typically developed as part of performance improvement measures. Which means that this is left with the O&M contractor or other members of the heat network supply chain, who have a poor understanding of the performance issues and implementation. Additionally, due to a lack of improvement design, the certainty of costs of improvement works often has a high degree of inaccuracy.
FairHeat works with clients to develop several intervention work packages focused on addressing the root causes of sub-optimal performance and optimising the performance of the heat network. These work packages will be assessed based on the estimated impact on the agreed performance metrics and KPIs. FairHeat produces a scope of works for selected work packages, with high level improvement design. Furthermore, FairHeat reviews the Contractor tender and management of rollout of interventions, with verification.
Clients often find it difficult to justify performance improvement measures due to a lack of supporting business cases for the interventions.
FairHeat allows clients to justify performance improvement measures by developing a fully costed business cases for the proposed interventions using financial modelling (NPV and IRR) and a sensitivity analysis on the relevant parameters.
Once cost-effective intervention measures have been identified, FairHeat can support the development of a fully costed Business Case that can be used internally within your organisation to secure funding and support for the performance improvement works. FairHeat enables you to justify performance improvement measures by developing a fully costed business cases for the proposed interventions using financial modelling (NPV and IRR) and a sensitivity analysis on the relevant parameters which are bespoke to your organisation.
When you have several existing heat networks it can be difficult to assess their current performance and to prioritise which networks require attention. FairHeat can support in the analysis of heat network portfolios to determine the optimal approach in addressing heat network performance. This includes assessing data quality, how data is used and analysed, development of performance metrics to tackle priority issues, and producing a strategy paper for internal use.
