The purpose of this assignment was to investigate a possible extension of the heat network of Veurne with residual heat from Pepsico (Croky chips). Hereby the coupling of companies, tertiary sector, public buildings,... was investigated. This research included both a technical and financial feasibility study of the expansion of the heat network as well as a legal study regarding the establishment of an energy community around this heat network.

We tried to get a good picture of the existing situation and of the demarcation of the zone for study of possible expansion of the heat network. Also the interaction with the relevant stakeholders (ION, Fluvius, city of Veurne, Pepsico) was very desirable, in order to get a view on the following three points: the availability of the residual heat (MW and temperatures),the off-take of the existing heat grid and the zone for possible expansion. Next, both heat consumers and (residual) heat sources were inventoried. We started from the newly available heat demand map (GEOpunt Flanders) and used publicly available info to enrich this map. Based on the first insights from the heat demand map, we consulted with the client about which specific heat consumers/sources we would collect additional information on. In a subsequent sub-task, the possible routes for expanding the heat network were determined on the basis of the most interesting heat consumers and possible additional waste heat sources. Here we first defined the evaluation criteria and starting points and preconditions for the technical-financial feasibility.

As possible evaluation criteria at this stage, there were :

• Heat demand density = total heat supply vs. length of heat grid
• Interest of heat consumers
• Bottlenecks (bridge, water, rail, gas, electricity)
• Opportunities (new developments, anticipated infrastructure modifications)

To mention as possible assumptions and preconditions :

• Guaranteed heat or basic heat supply only
• Retain existing boiler room heat seekers
• Marketable heat rates (NMDA ifv existing gas prices, guarantee, returns, ...)

Finally, the optimal heat network route was determined and a dimensioning (diameter ifv power/pressure drop) of the heat network was made using the in-house developed dimensioning tool. In addition to the base scenario, we also stipulated "What if" scenarios. These are variants of the base case that weigh the impact of certain risks (more or fewer heat customers effectively connecting, potential increase or decrease in specific consumers, change in temperature levels). Finally, we created a financial model with the goal of determining a positive business case. The feasibility study was completed by providing the client with a roadmap of follow-up steps to realization.