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The use of district heating network inertia (DHNI) has been regarded as an efficient and cost-saving method to improve the flexibility of the energy systems. However, the acclaimed benefits in most studies are found in specific cases with traditional middle-temperature systems. The cases where DHNI is not feasible are unclear and the applicability of DHNI in future low-temperature district heating (LTDH) systems requires further investigations. Therefore, this study applied a top-down methodology where the practical storage potentials of DH networks are evaluated based on field investigations of 134 Swedish DH networks and 25 Chinese DH networks with various sizes and demand densities. Empirical relationships between the heat density and storage potentials are established and analyzed. Then, bottom-level analysis from technical and economical aspects are conducted on a variety of application scenarios …