The decarbonisation of heating and cooling is emerging as one of the major challenges of Europe’s energy transition. Article 25 of the Energy Efficiency Directive requires cities with more than 45,000 inhabitants to develop local heating and cooling plans, a measure that will affect more than 1,200 European municipalities.

However, the ESCALATE project report warns that many local and regional authorities are facing this mandate without sufficient tools, particularly in areas such as access to disaggregated energy data, technical capacity, and financing for low-carbon infrastructure. The analysis also identifies limited integration between climate planning and cooling needs, as well as insufficient coordination between different levels of administration. In response, the document proposes strengthening the role of regional energy agencies as key intermediaries between national administrations and municipalities.

The methodology developed by ESCALATE to advance more efficient thermal systems and structures, and heating and cooling planning, is organised into five stages: process and data management, analysis of demand and existing infrastructure, assessment of efficiency potential and renewable energy sources, definition of climate-neutral scenarios, and the design of implementation strategies.