CHAMP – Championing Municipal Heating and Cooling Planning

Heating and cooling (HC) represent a significant share of total energy consumption in the EU, which makes their decarbonisation a key aspect of EU climate goals. Both the European Green Deal (2020) and the Fit for 55 legislative package (2021) prioritise the decarbonisation of HC systems to meet the climate-neutrality target by 2050. The recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), in Article 25.6, obliges larger EU municipalities to develop municipal HC plans to enhance energy efficiency and integrate renewable energy sources in HC. 

Despite these EU-wide initiatives, municipalities in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Greece face significant challenges in fulfilling this obligation: 

•    Insufficient technical and financial support from national governments. 

•    Lack of guidelines and planning tools for local authorities to develop these HC plans. 

•    Limited data availability and weak coordination between local and national authorities. 

•    Lack of skilled staff and capacity within local municipalities, especially outside large metropolitan areas. 

•    Weak enforcement of data-sharing obligations from utilities in Bulgaria and Greece. 

As a result, municipalities in these countries are poorly prepared to develop and implement their required HC plans, putting them at risk of missing critical energy and climate targets.

The CHAMP project aims to address these challenges by: 

1.    Developing a Methodology: A comprehensive methodology for municipal HC plans will be developed, ensuring compliance with EED requirements. This will be tested in pilot municipalities in Pernik (Bulgaria), Rijeka (Croatia), and Thermi (Greece). 

2.    Creating Templates and Guidelines: CHAMP will provide municipalities with templates, guidelines, and planning tools to facilitate the development of their HC plans. 

3.    Building Capacity: The project will enhance local authorities’ knowledge and skills through training materials, capacity-building activities, and workshops. This will enable municipalities to contribute and monitor the development and implementation of the plans.

4.    Improving National Frameworks: CHAMP will work with national authorities to improve the overall legislative and regulatory frameworks for HC planning, ensuring the alignment of local and national strategies.

By improving both local and national planning frameworks, CHAMP will ensure that municipalities can transition to climate-friendly, efficient, and renewable-based heating and cooling systems, contributing to EU climate targets and reducing energy costs and emissions.