This report is written as a part of the Grön BoStad project, financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The work reported here was performed by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. Damages in the distribution networks for district heating and cooling drives costs for utility companies. Being able to prevent damages and leakages in the distribution networks should therefore be of interest for utility companies. In addition to preventing damages, it is also important to be able to quickly and efficiently detect damages in the network whenever they occur. Many of the pipes and lines in distribution networks were installed many years ago, when digital surveillance systems were not available to the same extent as they are today. The use of damage detection systems is widely spread in Swedish distribution networks, but there is no summarized and general information in how they are used and how efficient they are. This report has the purpose to investigate how district heating and cooling companies and property owners are working in order to prevent damages in district heating distribution networks and to quantify the value that this work creates. The investigation has been made through a literature review, collection and analysis of statistical data regarding damages in district heating networks and through interviews held with stakeholders in the industry. In order to place the study in an international context, some European distribution networks have also been included. Swedish district heating and cooling companies are in general well aware of the advantages that can be achieved by having a systematic approach to the prevention of damages in the distribution networks, there is however a lack of standardized and industry-common methods for this. Statistics concerning damages in Swedish district heating networks has not been gathered on a national level since some years and it is therefore hard to get a general picture of the status of the networks. The trade organization Energiföretagen is at the time of writing this report working actively with organizing national statistical data and improving the knowledge regarding damages in Swedish district heating networks. The use of damage detection methods varies between the district heating networks that have been studied in this report. The statistics from two Swedish district heating networks shows that 10 to 20 per cent of reported damages have been detected through automated systems. A large part of the damages is being detected by various, less direct, methods such as schedules inspections, thermography and through additional water being injected to the network because of leakages.
Skador på ledningar i distributionsnät för fjärrvärme och fjärrkyla ger upphov till stora kostnader för energiföretag. Att kunna förebygga skador, rörbrott och läckor i distributionsnäten bör alltså vara i energiföretags intresse. Förutom att förebygga skador, behöver även skadorna snabbt och effektivt kunna upptäckas då de uppstår. I denna rapport undersöks hur fjärrvärmeföretag och fastighetsbolag arbetar för att förebygga och upptäcka skador i distributionsnät för fjärrvärme samt att belysa värdet av detta arbete.