Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) systems are a viable option to meet the increasing
cooling demand and to increase the sustainability of low-temperature district heating and cooling
(DHC) grids. They are able to store the rejected heat of cooling cycles on a seasonal basis and deliver
this heat during the heating season. However, their efficient practical implementation requires a
thorough analysis from technical, economic and environmental points of view. In this comparative
study, a dynamic exergoeconomic assessment is adopted to evaluate various options for integrating
such a storage system into 4th generation DHC grids in heating dominated regions. For this purpose,
different layouts are modeled and parameterized. Multi-objective optimization is conducted, varying
the most important design variables in order to maximize exergetic efficiency and to minimize
levelized cost of energy (LCOE). A comparison of the optimal designs of the different layouts reveals
that passive cooling together with maximizing the heating temperature shift, accomplished by a
heat pump, lead to optimal designs. Component-wise exergy and cost analysis of the most efficient
designs highlights that heat pumps are responsible for the highest share in inefficiency while the
installation of BTES has a high impact in the LCOE. BTES and buffer storage tanks have the lowest
exergy destruction for all layouts and increasing the BTES volume results in more efficient DHC grids
