While FEDARENE strongly supports the EU’s Electrification Action Plan (EAP), electrification alone cannot deliver the decarbonised, resilient, and integrated energy system Europe needs. Heating and cooling (H&C) accounts for around half of the EU’s total energy consumption, with roughly 70% still reliant on fossil fuels.
Our experience shows that successful energy transitions are built on a diverse mix of solutions tailored to local contexts. This is why, while we strongly support the electrification agenda, we believe it must be embedded within a broader, integrated energy system where spatial planning and flexibility are central. Alongside electrification, H&C technologies such as thermal energy storage, heat pumps, biogas, and geothermal energy all have an essential role to play. Europe’s energy future will be flexible and based on a complementary mix of energy sources, each contributing according to its strengths.
FEDARENE is therefore putting forward a clear message: electrification must be complemented by an ambitious, standalone EU Heating and Cooling Strategy.
To ensure that any future EU framework works effectively for local territories, FEDARENE outlines five major recommendations that an EU Heating and Cooling Strategy must deliver:
1. Actionable Plans Through Regional Integration
Local H&C plans must avoid operating in silos. By embedding district heating corridors into spatial planning and leveraging proven frameworks like IN–PLAN and the EUCF, regions can bridge the gap between policy mandates and bankable investment pipelines.
2. Enhancing Data Access and Mapping to Support Informed Decisions
Regional and Local authorities often lack reliable data on heat demand, supply networks, and waste heat because energy providers and utilities are reluctant to disclose it. Legal obligations for energy data providers to share data in accessible formats are needed to enable regional energy observatories (such as Île-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Alba’s ANERGO, and Plovdiv’s ROECC) to make informed decisions on climate resilience and territorial planning.
3. Freeing Heating Systems from Fossil Fuels
Phasing out fossil fuel boilers requires scaling up high-efficiency collective grids and local renewable mixes. To do this, regulatory frameworks must end financial and regulatory support for individual fossil fuel boilers. From Upper Austria’s bioenergy model to Castilla y León’s sustainable bioregions, these cases demonstrate how localised H&C strategies strengthens European energy security.
4. Ensuring Risk Management of H&C Technologies
High upfront investment costs, complex permitting, and low public awareness inhibit low-emission thermal solutions such as geothermal, solar thermal, and waste heat recovery. To overcome these obstacles, FEDARENE calls for targeted risk management interventions, including public-private partnerships and third-party investors; public awareness and community engagement campaigns; and targeted de-risking policies to boost industrial competitiveness.
5. Unlocking the Potential of Renewable Energy Communities in the H&C Sector
Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) remain an untapped asset in H&C. Pioneering models, such as the Energy Agency-led heating community in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), demonstrate how collective heat ownership lowers energy bills and strengthens local resilience. The EU must support these models with tailored financing tools, demonstration projects, and technical assistance programmes.
The Path Forward for an Integrated EU Strategy
An Electrification Action Plan without a parallel, dedicated EU Heating and Cooling Strategy risks overlooking the thermal energy realities facing European cities and regions.
Should the European Commission deliver a comprehensive Heating and Cooling Strategy, embedding these five priorities will be essential to make H&C decarbonisation technically feasible, financially viable, and socially fair. Regional and Local Energy Agencies stand ready as strategic partners, connecting EU policy ambitions with local spatial planning, stakeholder engagement, and project pipelines on the ground.
“We firmly believe that the energy transition must be underpinned by governance rooted in local and regional realities. We support the electrification of heating and cooling systems powered by renewable energy sources; however, we recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each region should be empowered to design and develop the mix of renewable technologies that best aligns with its specific characteristics, resources, and potential, thereby contributing to the creation of a more efficient, resilient, and sustainable energy system.”
– Alfonso ARROYO GONZALEZ, FEDARENE Vice-President for Renewable Heating and Cooling
