The actions of the Support DHC project, co-financed by the European Union under the LIFE programme, the EU’s financial instrument for the environment and climate action, have officially started.
The three-year project aims to support the transformation of the District Heating and Cooling (DHC) sector – ie the one related to district heating and cooling technologies – in the coming decades, with the goal of achieving near-total decarbonisation.
The main challenges to be addressed will be investment in infrastructure and components, awareness development and involvement of supply chain actors and the grounding of technologies and initiatives for a concrete and massive use of renewables and waste heat.
Through the project, tangible support will be offered to operators in planning decarbonisation pathways and developing their investment plans with particular reference to 6 European countries: Austria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.
Politecnico di Milano will be the project’s Italian referent and researchers from the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC) and the Department of Energy will be involved; the project will therefore be an opportunity for the creation of an interdepartmental working group on a topic that is fundamental for the evolution of the built environment and thermal systems in Italy.
Support DHC is coordinated by WIP – Wirtschaft und Infrastruktur Gmbh & Co Planungs Kg (Germany) and involves the following partners:
- AGFW-Projektgesellschaft für Rationalisierung, Information und Standardisierung Mbh (Germany)
- AEE Intec – Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien (Austria)
- e-think – Zentrum für Energiewirtschaft und Umwelt (Austria)
- Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
- Euroheat & Power (Belgium)
- PlanEnergi Fond (Denmark)
- Högskolan i Halmstad (Sweden)
- LITHUANIAN DISTRICT HEATING ASSOCIATION (Lithuania)
- Municipal Institution City Institute (Ukraine)
- Stowarzyszenie Gmin Polska Sieć ‘Energie Cités’ (Poland)
