Supporting the delivery of actionable, integrated, and comprehensive local heating and cooling plans

Expected Impact:

Proposals should present the concrete results which will be delivered by the activities and demonstrate how these results will contribute to the topic-specific impacts. This demonstration should rely on a solid analysis of the current situation, realistic assumptions and baselines, and establish clear causality links between proposed activities, results and impacts.

In terms of qualitative impact, proposals under this topic should demonstrate how they will contribute to the following outcomes, as relevant:

• delivering actionable and integrated LHCPs, aligned with EU and Member State guidance and requirements
• empowering local and regional authorities and support them in creating lasting and institutionalised planning and governance frameworks
• engaging public and private stakeholders to accelerate the decarbonisation of heating and cooling at the local level.

In terms of quantitative impact, proposals should quantify their results and impacts using the indicators provided for the topic, when they are relevant for the proposed activities. Proposals are not expected to address all the listed impacts and indicators. The results and impacts should be quantified for the end of the project and for 5 years after the end of the project. The quantitative indicators for this topic include:

• Number of planning and governance frameworks established at local, inter-municipal or regional levels
• Number of LHCPs delivered, ideally adopted as local, inter-municipal or regional policy documents
• Number of policy makers/public officers with improved skills in heating and cooling planning, and average training hours per participant in capacity building programmes
• Number of public and private stakeholders engaged in LHCP planning processes and in structured dialogues on local heating and cooling planning at the local, regional, and national level
• Number of LHCP processes initiated in other municipalities during the action.

Proposals should also provide indicators which are specific to their proposed activities.

Proposals should also quantify their impacts related to the following common indicators for the LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme.

• Primary energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year
• Final energy savings triggered by the project in GWh/year
• Renewable energy generation triggered by the project (in GWh/year)
• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (in t CO2-eq/year)
• Investments in sustainable energy (energy efficiency and renewable energy) triggered by the project (cumulative, in million Euro).

Funding rate

Other Action Grants (OAGs) — 95%

Objective:

The topic supports local and regional authorities to develop and deliver actionable and integrated local heating and cooling plans (LHCPs) as effective instruments for clean and sustainable energy planning and investment at the local and regional level.

Heating and cooling account for half of final energy use^[1] in the EU, about 70% of which still comes from imported fossil fuels, mainly fossil gas^[2]. Many households still rely on solid fuels, which harm air quality. Cooling demand is rising as temperatures and heatwaves increase, and demand from data centres grows. For households, heating and cooling account for most of the energy use and affect comfort, health and well-being. The shift to clean, secure, and affordable heating and cooling requires significant changes to energy infrastructures and buildings, integrated planning, spatially tailored decarbonisation measures, and targeted investments.

Local and regional authorities play a critical role in planning an energy efficient, renewable energy based, and resilient heating and cooling sector. The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)^[3] sets a specific objective for local and regional authorities to prepare LHCPs at least in municipalities with a total population higher than 45,000.

LHCPs are key policy and governance instruments to drive the decarbonisation of heating and cooling. They can guide long-term decisions on policies, infrastructure, and investments for a just and efficient shift to decarbonised buildings and more integrated, flexible and resilient energy systems.

LHCPs can identify and unlock local renewable and waste heat sources, deploy and integrate renewable heating and cooling systems and infrastructures, enable neighbourhood and district-level integrated renovation programmes and heating and cooling solutions, and implement cost-effective and socially acceptable measures to phase out fossil fuels in buildings. Consequently, they can deliver significant economic, environmental, and social benefits and strengthen the EU’s energy independence, competitiveness, and climate resilience.

Effective LHCPs require integrating energy, climate and spatial planning approaches, instruments, and policies, as well as facilitating engagement and support of citizens and key stakeholders. Making LHCPs actionable also requires political buy-in, access to relevant data, and support mechanisms to help municipalities and regions prepare, finance, implement, and monitor LHCPs. These actions must reflect the specific conditions, needs and constraints of territories, municipalities, and regions.

The EU is facing important increases in energy prices, driven by market volatility and exacerbated by its dependence on imported fossil fuels. A key priority for the EU is to strengthen the resilience of its energy system vis-a-vis geopolitical crises impacting the global energy market. Therefore, applicants under this topic are invited, where possible, to develop and implement long-term structural sustainable and energy efficiency measures to enhance EU energy system resilience against future crises, in coherence with short-term energy relief measures needed to respond to the current shock on the global energy markets.

Proposed actions should consider complementarity and alignment with relevant local, regional, and national plans, strategies, initiatives, and planning frameworks. These include, but are not limited to, Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs) or similar, climate change adaptation plans, National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), National Building Renovation Plans (NBRPs), the National Comprehensive Heating and Cooling Assessments^[4], and the forthcoming EU heating and cooling strategy^[5].

Scope:

Proposals under this topic should provide targeted support to help local and regional authorities develop actionable and integrated LHCPs covering different energy carriers, infrastructures and economic sectors.

Support should be clearly tailored to the targeted local and regional contexts, and used by municipalities and regional authorities. By the end of the action, proposals must result in the actual delivery of LHCPs in the targeted municipalities or regions. The plans should align with EU and Member State guidance and requirements and be developed through highly participatory processes.

Proposals should serve multiple municipalities in each targeted region and country. They should guide LHCP development by supporting data collection and use of tools, building technical capacity, engaging citizens and stakeholders, and supporting financing of decarbonisation measures. Proposals should include a detailed analysis of the current state of heating and cooling planning and related challenges in the targeted regions and countries.

Proposals should ensure that support activities are made available to the municipalities in the targeted territories, including those with fewer than 45,000 inhabitants. They should also facilitate joint action among municipalities at regional or other appropriate governance and territorial levels, to pool skills and resources and support inter-municipal and/or regional energy system planning.

Specific support activities for local and regional authorities should include:

• Building technical skills and expertise to prepare, finance, implement and monitor LHCPs
• Collecting granular and context-specific geospatial, technical, climatic^[6] and socio-economic data for the preparation of LHCPs^[7], using national approaches/standards where available, or approaches which facilitate future compatibility of local data with national databases
• Developing comprehensive outlooks for energy demand and supply and identifying spatially tailored decarbonisation measures, for instance the potential for heating and cooling networks in urban and industrial areas
• Identifying and assessing financing options for LHCP measures, considering public and private funding, local and regional budgets, energy costs for end users, social acceptance and the needs of energy-poor and vulnerable households
• Running participatory processes to streamline planning and administrative procedures including permitting, to address regulatory barriers, and to engage key stakeholders, including public authorities, infrastructure operators, citizens, energy communities, associations, industry, businesses and services, energy producers, energy service providers, utilities and distribution system operators (DSOs)
• Coordinating LHCPs with electricity and heating and cooling distribution network and infrastructure development plans, and where relevant, with decommissioning plans for natural gas networks ^[8]
• Establishing structured dialogue and collaboration with competent regional and national authorities, including to inform national-level planning such as NECPs and the National Comprehensive Heating and Cooling Assessments.

Proposals should include specific activities to transfer knowledge and experience to help initiate LHCP processes beyond the targeted territories.

Proposals should also explain how they will help establish lasting and institutionalised LHCPs planning and governance frameworks under the responsibility of the targeted municipalities and regions. This may include, but not limited to, dedicated structures, hubs, or task forces to support the implementation of LHCPs in the territories covered.

Proposals may use existing digital tools, such as those developed by national authorities or EU-funded projects, to support the development of LHCPs. Proposals whose main focus is to develop new digital tools are outside the scope of this topic.

Proposals that only focus on district heating and cooling investment plans are outside the scope of this topic.

Proposals should clearly identify the targeted territories and the municipalities and regional authorities involved. They should demonstrate their active involvement and firm political commitment, for instance by including them in the consortium or providing tailored letters of support clearly specifying their commitment and role in the project.

Proposals must be submitted by at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2 million would allow the specific objectives to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

[1] Decarbonising heating and cooling — a climate imperative, European Environment Agency (EEA), 2023

[2] Call for evidence for the EU Heating and Cooling Strategy

[3] See in particular Article 25.6, Directive (EU) 2023/1791

[4] See Article 25.1, Directive (EU) 2023/1791

[5] https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/heating-and-cooling_en

[6] Taking into account changing climatic conditions resulting from climate change, including increased frequency of episodes of extreme heat

[7] Including data on heating and cooling demand, local renewable heat and waste heat sources, energy supply infrastructures, heating and cooling appliances in buildings, and the energy performance of buildings (Directive (EU) 2024/1275)

[8] Directive (EU) 2024/1788