PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The ConnectHeat project will develop an enabling policy framework for the development of community energy initiatives, aiming at decarbonising the heating and cooling (H&C) sector, in 7 target areas located in selected countries with a good geographical spread (BE, BL, ES, HR, IT, DE, PT) and, thanks to an ambitious dissemination and replication package, also in the whole EU. 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. ConnectHeat consortium is constituted by 6 local/regional key actors of the target areas, 2 research/consulting companies and 2 EU associations in the district heating and energy agency sectors. The project is welcome by 43 letters of support from a variety of key stakeholders. The project will reach a RES generation of more than 44 GWh/year and 21 million EUR of investments in sustainable energy, as well as at developing 11 policies. 550 people will be trained and more than 10,000 people will be reached through dissemination.