The selection of energy station sites and planning of thermal network layout are one of the most crucial aspects in the process ofregional district heating and cooling station planning. Existing algorithms for energy station site selection and thermal network planningmostly adopt a“two-step method”which separates the problem of load allocation from that of network layout

leading to inconsistent deci?sion-making criteria during the decision process. In consequence

the result of load allocation as well as the network layout may not be opti?mal. To address this issue

a multi-site selection and thermal network planning algorithm based on dynamic parallel competition mecha?nism is proposed. This algorithm directly compares the ways in which loads are connected to various energy station networks

synchronous?ly determining the ownership of load points and corresponding optimal network layout schemes. Case studies demonstrate that the pro?posed dynamic parallel competition algorithm ensures consistency between load allocation and network layout decisions

thereby yieldingsuperior planning results compared to the traditional“two-step method”.