Excess heat from vegetable market in Høje Taastrup

In 2016, the old vegetable market in Høje Taastrup was replaced by Copenhagen Markets, a new and comprehensive vegetable market with a large cooling demand. Low-temperature heat from district cooling is used to produce district heating.

Description

The local district heating company, Høje Taastrup Fjernvarme, delivers district cooling to the vegetable market through a large joint grid. An electric refrigeration compressor supplies the cooling. Hereby, individual and less efficient cooling systems were replaced by a centralized cooling unit that benefits from economies of scale. Return flow from the district cooling network contains heat, which is upgraded through a heat pump to supply hot water to the district heating consumers. The overall system takes advantage of co-producing cooling and heating, where production of cooling cannot be delivered without production of heat. The system is currently the most comprehensive district cooling system in the Nordic Region. Fruits, vegetables, and flowers are preserved at optimal temperatures while district heating prices are lowered. The district cooling system displaces old refrigerator units which lowers the overall energy consumption and benefits the environment. The next stage in Høje Taastrup is to expand the district cooling network and add more heat pumps, thereby increasing the numbers of consumers. District cooling proves to be an important part of the future urban development for both comfort and process needs and there is a large potential for district cooling in Denmark.

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