In Sweden, district heating has been very successful in achieving a considerable share of the heat market since the introduction in 1948. Review papers and articles about this development in Sweden have occured on rare occasions in international literature. Therefore, after 40 years of operation and experience, this paper gives a short historic survey of the introduction and expansion of district heating in Sweden.
District heating is mainly supplied to satisfy municipal heat demands for space heating and hot water supply. Beside the supply of 33 TWh/year to the domestic heat market, the industrial sector also receives 4 TWh/year. This heat is mainly used for space heating of industrial premises. Heat demands for industrial processes are not normally satisfied by district heating.
During 1989, 145 district heating distributors were active in Sweden. District heating systems are mainly managed by municipal energy utilities, which mostly are also responsible for electricity distribution. This gives a unique possibility of coordinating district heating and electricity distribution. Major bulk power producers as The Swedish State Power Board (SSPB), Sydkraft, and Gullaspång control very few of these local utilities. Instead, they are mostly organized as a part of the municipal authority or as a company owned by the municipal authority. Hereby, the Swedish word for district heating often has the purport of heat supplied by a municipal authority. Therefore, statistics about Swedish district heating does not always include small district heating systems managed by local housing companies. Nor do the statistics include heat produced by industrial heat and power plants , unless the heat is sold to and distributed by a municipal authority-