Did you know that district heating and cooling (H&C) is a top solution for a fossil-free Europe? Aalborg University found that by supplying 20% of the EU heat demand with district H&C would save the continent 24 billion cubic metres of gas. The problem? Not all municipalities are equally prepared for an energy transition. A European-wide Support Facility sets out to fix this.

To align with these decarbonisation goals, city planners must accelerate their action in strategic H&C planning and decision-making in order to provide more affordable, secure, and sustainable energy to their communities. In order to accelerate this energy transition, a H&C Support Facility is available to all local energy planners.

The Support Facility, initiated by the EU-funded ActionHeat project, of which ICLEI is a partner, provides energy planners the know-how, resources, and experience. The Facility’s tools and assistance then helps facilitate municipalities to start, complete, or improve upon their district H&C planning. Specifically, applicants will gain exclusive access and insight to the H&C planning software Hotmaps and THERMOS, which can be used for their local energy transition.

Additionally, to meet the specific needs of the locality, applicants are able to select between two different Support Facility modules to participate in: 'H&C transition strategy development' and 'Project Feasibility'.

Since its launch in March 2022, the Support Facility has been actively guiding energy planners from municipalities across Europe. Examples of support services include: the development of guidelines in tendering services for H&C planning; targeted support on dealing with data, e.g. how to set up a cadastre for industrial excess heat; and in-depth analysis on an Act!onHeat case study on setting up a business case for the development of a district heating network.

For example, on building H&C strategic plans via advice and tools provided by ActionHeat, the municipality of Zelzate (Belgium), via research conducted within the Support Facility, received a best approach scenario on how Zelzate can heat the highest total number of connected buildings, while still being financial feasible.

Interested in how the Support Facility can benefit your network or local community? The Call for Applications is now open.

More information can also be found on the Support Facility FAQs page. For specific questions on the Support Facility, reach out to helpdesk@actionheat.eu.