The project focuses on developing an enabling policy framework for the development of community energy initiatives, aiming at decarbonising the heating and cooling (H&C) sector.

ConnectHeat will overcome a major barrier in the H&C sector, since community energy has been so far the almost exclusive preserve of electricity, also because of a lack of comprehensiveness in the transposition of the RED II Directive in several Member States. Thanks to structural cooperation with key stakeholders at local and transnational level and also to knowledge and best practices transfer, project activities will culminate in the implementation of 7 real-life pilot cases of H&C community energy in target areas, with a large coverage of applications (industrial/tertiary/touristic, public buildings & social housing, urban regeneration, agriculture) and a wide range of technical solutions and systems mainly based on the integration of local RES (solar thermal, biomass, waste heat, etc.). Furthermore, ConnectHeat will build-up skills in the target areas and at EU level, support 7 more pilot replicators in EU and develop 7 policy roadmaps and a blueprint proposing tools and suitable supporting schemes for a stable development of H&C community energy.

Start date: October 2022 - End date: September 2025

Partners

• AMBIENTE ITALIA SRL
• FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES AGENCES ET DES REGIONS POUR L'ENERGIE ET L'ENVIRONNEMENT
• INTERCOMMUNALE LEIEDA
• EUROHEAT & POWER
• ENERGY AGENCY OF PLOVDIV ASSOCIATION

More information here.