Unlocking shallow geothermal heating and cooling potential in Medjimurje region

Heating and cooling account for nearly half of Europe’s total energy consumption, with around three-quarters of that demand still covered by fossil fuels. Shifting to renewable heating and cooling is therefore essential to reaching Europe’s 2050 climate-neutrality target.  

Despite being the smallest Croatian region by size, Medjimurje Region is one of the most densely populated and has strong ambitions related to energy transition, sustainability, and local energy self-sufficiency. Through the project Danube GeoHeCo, financed by the Interreg Danube Region Programme 2021-2027, Medjimurje Energy Agency (MENEA) provided technical assistance to advance shallow geothermal energy through innovation, capacity building and coordinated policy action. 

Building local capacity 

Shallow geothermal energy is still a young technology in Croatia, and a shortage of technical expertise, limited practical experience and a lack of accessible data has often held back its wider deployment. The Danube GeoHeCo project addresses this directly, supporting Medjimurje’s ambition to become a greener, more energy-efficient and climate-neutral territory through training sessions, consultation forums, study visits and awareness-raising aimed at local planners, installers and public officials, building the knowledge base needed for long-term uptake. 

Rather than simply demonstrating the technology, Danube GeoHeCo puts local planning at its centre. In Medjimurje, this took the form of deployment desks, collaborative platforms where stakeholders jointly assessed shallow geothermal energy potential and shaped deployment concepts tailored to their own communities. During the process, MENEA offered structured guidance on weaving shallow geothermal energy into regional energy strategies, accounting for the area’s specific socio-economic, regulatory and technical realities.  

MENEA also applied two practical digital tools developed within the project: An IT-based decision support tool assists public authorities, investors, and energy planners in designing and optimising shallow geothermal energy hybrid systems by integrating technical, climatic, and financial data, while web-based digital platform with integrated virtual marketplace facilitates stakeholder engagement, knowledge exchange, and matchmaking between supply and demand for shallow geothermal energy solutions.   

Pilot investment at the Branch School in Pušćine 

A key strength of the project in Medjimurje Region lies in its pilot investment at the Branch School in Pušćine. MENEA integrated a ground-water heat pump in the building’s existing fossil-fuel heating system, creating a high-efficiency hybrid solution. The heat pump now serves as the primary heat source, while the original gas boiler stays in place as backup, switching on only below a set temperature threshold. With the investment now completed, the installed shallow geothermal energy technology provides practical evidence, on performance, cost and energy savings, that local decision-makers can use to weigh up similar projects elsewhere, in both public and private buildings. 

Turning shared knowledge into solutions

The Branch School pilot is a first, concrete step towards wider uptake of shallow geothermal energy in the region. Now completed, it shows how the technology can be integrated into an existing public building and gives local decision-makers valuable evidence when considering similar investments.

Its impact, extends beyond the pilot itself. Transnational cooperation brought together expertise from eight Danube Region countries, allowing MENEA and its partners to learn from different geological, climatic, regulatory and market contexts and to develop and test digital solutions together. Exchanges with stakeholders and other pilot sites also strengthened professional networks and created opportunities to transfer and replicate the results.

As a result, partners and local stakeholders are better equipped to assess, plan and promote shallow geothermal energy. In Međimurje, the pilot is complete. The digital tools and the experience gained now help decision makers choose with more confidence. The project shows how transnational cooperation can turn shared knowledge into solutions that other regions can use.

This best practice is extracted from our publication ‘Sustainable Regions in Action’. Discover more best practices here!