The FIT-EX-DHC project is officially underway. Partners from across Europe recently met in Sønderborg, Denmark, for a two-day kick-off meeting to start the work on making existing district heating and cooling systems more flexible and better able to integrate renewable energy and waste heat.

Europe already has extensive district heating and cooling infrastructure. FIT-EX-DHC focuses on how these existing systems can be improved rather than replaced.

During the kick-off, partners discussed the technical solutions, demonstration activities and real-life cases that will form the core of the project.

“We will go to the utilities, learn about their systems and identify what we can do to improve them and connect waste heat or other low-carbon heat sources,” says Oddgeir Gudmundsson from Danfoss.

From research to real-world solutions

An important part of the project is ensuring that the solutions are not only technically feasible, but also economically viable and ready for implementation.

“We want to turn research into something tangible – something municipalities can take to a bank and get funding for. The goal is to create real impact, not just develop solutions that look good on paper,” says Nicolas Marx from the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the project’s technical lead.

The kick-off also included a site visit in Sønderborg, giving partners a first-hand look at one of the Danish settings connected to the project.

Over the coming years, FIT-EX-DHC will develop, test and share solutions that can help existing district heating and cooling systems play a stronger role in Europe’s clean energy transition.