PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
DHC SwEEtch project aims at providing technical support to operators of existing DHCN to prepare decarbonization roadmaps at 2050 and related investment plans within a 10-year time horizon in line with both the criteria for 'efficient district heating and cooling' set by the revised Energy Efficiency Directive and targets sets in local energy transition plans (e.g. SECAPs). The project envisages to organise the technical support required by DHCN operators in the form of a “4-link support chain”. The chain’s links represent the interconnected steps required for properly planning DHCN retrofitting/modernisation/fuel switch/system integration: LINK#1. Mapping, LINK#2. Modelling, LINK#3. Assessing, LINK#4. Generating investment plans. Each link will include specific set of services enabled by the expertise and tools (commercial software and tools from R&D EU projects) made available by the technical experts of the DHC SwEEtch Consortium (IESRD, R2M, RINA-C, EURAC, EIHP, KAPE). DHC SwEEtch integrated tool chain will be deployed to 10 Case Studies to prepare 10 investment plans. Acknowledging national geographical/political/socio-economic differences across Europe, DHC SwEEtch will be based on case studies identified across EU countries linked to Consortium partners: Italy/Croatia/Poland. This approach allows the project to leverage on the expertise of Consortium Partners, familiar with the specific national conditions. 5 Pioneers Case Studies, linked to 4 DHCN operators (signed Letters of Commitment), have been selected and preliminarily characterized; 5 Replicators Case Studies will be identified (by M15) launching a dedicated open call to engage additional DHCN operators. Moreover, the project will set up and engage a community of DHC SwEEtch Followers across EU (>80; built on top of CONSTRUCTION21 platform including DHCN operators/local authorities/energy-related actors) to be involved in training/dissemination activities to maximise sustainability and replicability.