5GDHC networks are also referred to as 5th generation district heating and cooling networks. On this page, we explain what characterizes networks of the 5th generation.
What are 5th generation networks?
Networks of the 5th generation are thermal networks operating at a very low temperature level, which requires water-to-water heat pumps to be installed in the connected buildings. These decentralized heat pumps in each building raise the temperature of the network to the supply temperature required by the heating system. The term is derived from the English designation 5th generation district heating and cooling, or 5GDHC for short. In international energy research, 5GDHC networks describe thermal networks with supply temperatures close to the ambient temperature and therefore also include cold district heating networks.
What is special about the 5th generation?
The term 5th generation network is used in particular when a large share of the connected buildings draws not only heat but also cooling from the network. Buildings that draw cooling simultaneously feed heat into the network. They are therefore not only consumers but also producers. This is often described with the neologism prosumer. If prosumers are connected to a 5th generation network, the network is also referred to as bidirectional. This indicates that energy flows both from the network to the building and from the building into the network.
Thermal networks 5.0
Since the term Wärmenetze 4.0 (thermal networks 4.0) for 4th generation networks is widely used in German energy funding schemes, 5GDHC networks are occasionally referred to by analogy as Wärmenetze 5.0 (thermal networks 5.0). In Germany, 5th generation networks are funded under the Federal Funding for Efficient Heat Networks (BEW) or, for small networks with up to 16 connected buildings (so-called Gebäudenetze, building networks), under the Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings (BEG).