Bucharest could use solar panels to heat running water

The Bucharest City Hall is considering placing solar panels on the capital’s blocks of flats and other buildings to heat running water, Profit.ro reported. The project is part of the city’s thermal energy strategy, which will be discussed in the Bucharest General Council (CGMB) this Friday, June 30. The solar panels project has a cost estimate of over RON 2 billion (EUR 473.9 million), and it would bring in projected yearly savings of EUR 90.7 million. The Bucharest City Authority for the Regulation of the Public Services (AMRSP) drafted the project. “Looking at the structure of the thermal energy consumption, on consumer category and use, we can conclude that around 25% of the thermal energy that [e.n. the Bucharest thermal energy distributor] RADET provides goes towards the hot running water. This consumption can be ensured through the use of renewable [energy] sources, meaning of solar panels,” the strategy argues, quoted by Profit.ro. Besides the blocks of flats, other solar panel locations could be the buildings located nearby RADET thermal units. Solar panels could provide the entire hot water consumption needs during summer, according to the strategy. They would cover 60% - 80% of the needs during fall and spring. Some 8,500 blocks of flats and residential buildings could receive hot water this way. The thermal energy losses via the transport networks for heating running water stood at 616,961 Gcal in 2016, worth some EUR 46.8 million. Renewable sources could provide 577,959 Gcal a year, worth some EUR 43 million. The strategy argues the project would bring EUR 90.7 million in thermal energy savings a year. According to the same strategy, a study assessing the technical and economic aspects of the proposal should be carried out for further evaluation of this option. editor@romania-insider.com