TEE/TDM: Urgent necessity for immediate solutions that will ensure the uninterrupted heat supply of the district heating systems

District heating has been a crucial infrastructure for the Municipalities in Western Macedonia for decades and is essential for the smooth functioning of the cities of Kozani, Ptolemaida, and Amyntaio during the winter months, with a direct dependence on the energy supply from the lignite-fired thermal power plants of PPC S.A.
With regard to Ptolemaida and Amyntaio, units 3 and 4 of the Kardia Thermal Power Plant as well as units 1 and 2 of the Amyntaio Thermal Power Plant, alongside other lignite units of PPC S.A., have been placed under a restricted operating regime of 17,500 hours from 2016 to 2023, due to the implementation of environmental legislation. According to the current planning for the area, the Ptolemaida district heating system will be serviced by the new Ptolemaida 5 Thermal Power Plant when it comes online after 2021, and until then it will rely on the Kardia Thermal Power Plant; however, for the case of Amyntaio, there is no succession plan, and the district heating depends on the possibility of upgrading the existing unit. Regarding alternative infrastructure solutions, Ptolemaida possesses a limited reserve to cover peak loads and backup/emergency requirements, while in Amyntaio, which lacks corresponding systems, the construction of an alternative heat source using biomass is being planned.
At the present stage, all the aforementioned units of PPC S.A. have consumed a significant number of their operating hours, resulting in the immediate shutdown of the Amyntaio district heating system and the inability to operate the Ptolemaida district heating system following the conclusion of this year's heating season. This will create a supply gap for the cities for the coming years until the successor technical solutions become available, as the efforts announced by PPC S.A. to extend operating hours have not yielded results to date.
TEE/TDM considers that the above issues establish the necessity for a comprehensive examination of the operating conditions of the district heating systems, featuring the development of a specific and binding plan that will encompass immediate measures to meet the load coverage requirements of the district heating systems as well as long-term backup measures, in which all stakeholders must participate.
There is an imperative necessity for immediate solutions that will guarantee the uninterrupted supply of heat in the coming years, as well as the provision of backups on a long-term basis, factoring in the declining trajectory of lignite-based power generation, the increase in the prices of emitted carbon dioxide, and the future availability of natural gas and compressed natural gas (CNG) in the region by expediting the implementation processes for CNG distribution projects to be utilised by the installed district heating systems.
The mapping of technical solutions, the costing of the necessary investments, the timeline for project implementation, and the costing of the thermal energy produced are issues that must be examined immediately by the stakeholders, and the optimal solutions must be proposed to secure the operation of district heating and, by extension, the future of the region. Owing to the aforementioned imminent changes, it is considered essential to explore the immediate procurement and installation of backup dual-fuel (gas – oil) boilers, in order to achieve energy savings, a high-quality energy supply, and security of supply.