How to develop district heating systems?

The Interreg HeatNet North West Europe (HeatNet NWE) project has just published a comprehensive online guide on district heating. It will support cities and towns willing to learn more and develop district heating systems.

As part of the HeatNet NWE project, six cities in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France developed innovative low-temperature district heating and cooling networks. The website aggregates all the knowledge and experience generated in the past four years and offers technical guidance on DHC, but also easy to read documentation for non-expert audience. You will find step by step information on how to get started, from the heat mapping phase to the development of policies that can support future DHC networks.

To guide public sector organisations in assessing the feasibility of district heating systems in their region, the project has developed six Transition Roadmaps, which outline the experiences of their pilot partners in developing six district heating pilots. These Roadmaps cover areas such as the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, regulation and policies, spatial planning, business models and viability, and connection to finance and markets. More information on the process for each of the pilots are also available in form of case studies and video interviews.

Developing and implementing district heating and cooling projects tend to be large and complex. Considerable investments are necessary in order to deliver a DHC network. That is why part of the guide is devoted to financial aspects: you will find information on the different business and governance models available to public sector bodies, and how to finance and procure the development of a district heating system.

Explore the online guide and learn more at https://guidetodistrictheating.eu/