Towards next generation district heating in Finland

District heating has been used as heating energy provider for buildings since the half of 19th century. It evolved together with buildings towards higher energy efficiency. Today the energy production systems, hooked up to the district heating network, are able to produce both heating energy and electricity. In some particular cases, also cooling energy is produced. Nowadays it is extensively used in Nordic countries, especially in Finland; subject of this study. Actually, Finnish district heating is facing important challenges, since new European regulations are coming into play affecting both energy generation methods and building energy efficiency. Basically, buildings are becoming more efficient and renewable technologies more cost-effective. Particularly, buildings consume less heating energy, due to high level of insulation, and adopt low temperature indoor distribution systems. Furthermore, new electrical appliances are penetrating into buildings, generating also cooling loads in summer even in cold climates. In addition to these, new effective technologies are available on the market. All these aspects are inducing the district heating to evolve. This study discusses relevant issues for a smooth transformation of the current Finnish district heating towards the future generation. Authors, after an extensive review of the existing district heating operating practices and of the promising innovative technologies network integration, suggested possible and realistic technologies integration scenarios.