Guidelines on community-led heating and cooling

Example

The Dutch district heating cooperative MeerEnergie U.A. started in 2016 with plans to connect the local data centre to supply heat to a neighbourhood in Amsterdam. The plan was at a very early stage and there was a small group of enthusiastic board members. They set up the cooperative and got a small grant of €20.000 to find more members and make a first technical analysis.

They started cooperating with the locals who had this technical knowledge. They grew in that process to about 200 members. They then applied for a grant from the municipality for sustainable initiatives. They received another €50.000 to set up a process with their members to create a business case, an organisational plan, and a technical plan. They did this in several working groups with members and external experts. By the end of the process, they grew to 500 members from the neighbourhood. The plan was well received by the municipality and they continued with a new grant of €150.000 to fill in the details of the plan, going into houses for technical details, calculated with specific numbers in the business case, and set up contracts with future partners of the energy community. They will now get another round of investment from the municipality to build their CH&C project.

Example

The Belgian energy community Beauvent, has access to financing through bank loans, counting with 15 active credit lines, in addition to generating revenue from its membership. Impressively, they raised approximately €1 million from their members in just 30 minutes. However, this achievement is only possible because Beauvent has already established a robust business case and, over time, has garnered the trust of the local community. In Beauvent’s own words, ‘we are fortunate to have built a strong track record.’

Example

The Dutch energy community Thermobello, purchased their district heating network from a water company that had little interest in maintaining it. They raised the necessary funds through member crowd-funding and secured bank loans with municipal guarantees. This took a year, however it greatly facilitated the development process. The loan was paid off in eight years. This financial stability allowed them to fully renovate their heat pump for around €500,000, which they expect to be operational for at least 15 years.