HEAT 35 – Transforming district heating systems of Central Europe into sustainable and efficient heating and cooling systems by 2035

Many district heating systems in Central Europe are facing major challenges on the way to transforming into more sustainable and efficient systems. New energy supply concepts are emerging that incorporate many different renewable heat sources for defossilization. This makes the systems more complex and decentralized than before. A comprehensive approach to providing support along the transformation path through tailored processes and supporting instruments is still largely lacking.

Answers to these challenges are being developed in HEAT 35. The aim is to turn district heating systems in Central Europe, which are currently still largely fossil-fuelled, into showcase systems that use at least 50% renewable energy and waste heat as an energy source by 2035.

The project partners, consisting of district heating companies and expert organizations, are working together to develop transformation solutions by pooling the knowledge and experience of the various partners, regions and pilot cases.

In addition to the development of guidelines and tools for implementing the solutions, a quality management system based on the further development of QM Heizwerke in Austria is also being tested for the application for (large) district heating networks.

In addition, a “HEAT 35 Learning Lab” will offer further training for experts and decision-makers for these new, more complex systems for the integration of waste heat utilization.

Representative operator associations and district heating operators will play an important role in knowledge transfer as associated partners in the project and for the replication of the HEAT 35 approach by other district heating systems.