Pan European Networks explores the role that the Euroheat & Power network is providing in certifying quality assurance.
Euroheat & Power operates as a network of district energy organisations and professionals with the aim of establishing connections between industry, decision makers and academia in a joint effort to drive sustainable heating and cooling. District energy has the capabilities to limit spending on imported fossil fuels, whilst enabling investment in both renewable energy and efficiency infrastructures. Moreover, the system of district energy is built on the idea of communication between local resources and needs, connecting people, communities, buildings and technologies.
Certificating efficiency
In October 2017 Euroheat & Power launched a new initiative for eco-efficient substations. The certification is based upon the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Workshop Agreement (CWA) 16975:2016 ‘Eco-efficient Substations for District Heating’, which was adopted by industry representatives in 2015. The certification programme will enforce an official procedure that allows manufacturers of substations to obtain recognised authentication from an independent third party that a product adheres to the requirements outlined in the CWA.
Through the certification scheme Euroheat & Power aims to supply a voluntary system that is advantageous for both manufacturers and end users. Moreover, it intends to provide users with a symbol of assurance of quality through introducing a certificate and a label, as well as through ensuring that substations for district heating are sufficiently eco-efficient. The network hopes to ensure consistency – ‘uniform, equal and fair’ – in competition across Europe in order to avoid price increases at the expense of quality, and to avoid or replace multiple or overlapping national certification schemes.
Ahead of the curve
The district heating steel valve manufacturer, Vexve Oy by the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE), was awarded Euroheat & Power’s first certificate of authentication in December, in alignment with to the EN 488 standard, and Euroheat & Power’s certification guidelines. In a press release, Jussi Vanhanen, CEO of Vexve Oy, said: “As a leading producer of high quality underground valves for heating and cooling, our key goal is to make life easy for our customers. The Euroheat & Power certification is a guarantee to our customers that the valves they use are specifically suited for demanding underground conditions and will operate reliably over [the] whole lifetime of the networks. By introducing this certification, Euroheat & Power is facilitating the positive development toward increasing energy efficiency and higher return on investment of energy infrastructure.”
Over several years, the network has managed certification programmes for differing district heating components. However, the new certification scheme facilitates increased product quality levels, healthy competition, enhanced reliability and ease of procurement. As a result, these guidelines are anticipated to improve cost efficiency, through avoiding multiple testing rounds and inspection during procurement.
This article will appear in Pan European Networks: Government 24, which will be published in January, 2018.
