Developing, demonstrating and sharing solutions for future district heating and cooling
FIT-EX-DHC (Flexible Integration Technologies for Existing District Heating and Cooling Systems)
About the project
Across Europe, extensive district heating and cooling infrastructure is already in place. Instead of replacing these systems, FIT-EX-DHC (Flexible Integration Technologies for Existing District Heating and Cooling Systems) explores how we can make better use of what we already have.
The project develops and demonstrates solutions that can help existing networks integrate more renewable energy and waste heat, while operating in smarter and more flexible ways. Partners from across Europe bring together expertise in district energy, technology, research and implementation. Solutions will be tested in real-life cases and turned into practical knowledge that can be used by other energy systems across Europe.
12
case studies
7
countries
€1.87
million in EU funding
Case Studies
Charleroi Porte Ouest
Belgium
Exploring the integration of industrial waste heat, river water heat and geothermal energy into a new district heating and cooling system.
Glansager Biogas
Denmark
Exploring the use of waste heat from a biogas plant through heat pumps to reduce reliance on existing heating sources.
Karlovac
Croatia
Exploring wastewater heat recovery and geothermal energy as alternatives to fossil fuels in high-temperature district heating.
Slavonski Brod
Croatia
Investigating how gas-based micro district heating networks could be connected to renewable heat sources.
Lille
France
Investigating a low-carbon heating network based on geothermal heat pumps and its potential connection to a public district heating network.
Rijeka
Croatia
Exploring how three separate district heating networks could be connected and upgraded to integrate wastewater heat and lower operating temperatures.
La Hulpe
Belgium
Investigating geothermal energy, heat pumps and other low-carbon solutions for an existing heating and cooling network serving a hotel and conference complex.
Yaremche
Ukraine
Exploring small-scale district heating networks using biomass, solar thermal energy and heat pumps to reduce reliance on gas.
Ivano-Frankivsk
Ukraine
Investigating how heat pumps and geothermal energy could support the modernisation of district heating, with a local hospital as a pilot site.
Leuven EcoWerf
Belgium
Exploring the use of heat from biogas production and wastewater to supply existing district heating networks and nearby buildings.
Leuven City
Belgium
Investigating opportunities for expanding district heating and integrating large heat pumps to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Braine-le-Château
Belgium
Exploring the potential to expand an existing biomass-based district heating network to more municipal buildings, homes and local businesses.
Funding
The FIT-EX-DHC project is co-funded by the European Union under the LIFE Clean Energy Transition Programme (LIFE-2025-CET) and has been awarded EUR 1,874,578.48 in EU funding.
Partners
Contact Us
Admin. Lead
Benedicte Carlsson Bojesen
Project Manager
Energy Cluster Denmark
Technical Lead
