Reza Mokhtari successfully defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Construct), entitled “Dynamic Heat Price: A Key Solution to Unlock Demand-side Flexibility of District Heating Systems.” The research investigated the implementation of dynamic pricing in district heating, focusing on a residential neighborhood in the ARV Sønderborg pilot in Denmark. Throughout the thesis, he examined how different consumer types react to price signals and evaluated the performance of advanced controllers in reducing peaks and heat costs.

To validate these findings, an experimental study was conducted in Switzerland using an RL thermostat controller to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of dynamic pricing strategies. The study concluded that while manual control of thermostats remains a simple and cost-effective option, automation is the essential requirement for supporting long-term demand response.

During the project, close collaboration among the ARV partners has effectively supported the thesis work. Significant technical support and resources were contributed by Jan Eric Thorsen from Danfoss and Torben Esbensen from ProjectZero, both of whom were instrumental in the completion of the project.

Photo credit: Rongling Li