Decarbonizing cities through electrification: a strategic study for densely built residential districts in Southern Italy

This paper presents a strategic analysis of the potential for energy savings and decarbonization in a densely built residential district through the synergistic implementation of electrification and building retrofitting measures. The study specifically focuses on the energy performance achievable when completely electrifying the Heating, Cooling, and Domestic Hot Water (DHW) services of a densely built urban district in Catania (Italy), including more than 200 residential buildings. The research thus models the district’s energy systems to assess the impact of various scenarios, which include individual measures tailored for thermal systems as well as a comprehensive approach that combines full electrification, on-site renewable energy integration and building envelope retrofitting. The findings underline the effectiveness of the combined scenario, which results in cancelling natural gas consumption while also reducing by around 57 % the amount of electrical energy purchased from the grid, with a final 70 % decrease in carbon emissions. Of particular relevance is the efficacy of upgrading thermal systems alongside PV system installation, under the hypothesis of creating a stand-alone electric grid for the entire district that can exchange electricity with the existing network when needed. Under these premises, the energy procurement from the electric network can be reduced by 40 %.