DHC Networks
Building community-led district heating and cooling across Europe
The MUSE DHC project is implemented through nine case studies located in five European countries: France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. These local initiatives represent different territorial contexts, from small towns to urban districts, and form the practical core of the project.
In each case study, the project supports the development of new efficient district heating and cooling (DHC) systems based on renewable energy sources and waste heat adopting a community-led approach that actively involves local stakeholders in the planning, governance and decision-making processes.
Citizens, public authorities, energy providers, cooperatives, businesses and other local actors are involved through Living Labs, participatory processes where stakeholders can exchange ideas, identify challenges, and contribute to the co-design of future heating and cooling solutions. This approach aims to ensure social acceptance, fair governance models and long-term sustainability.
For each case study, the project will develop a tailored investment plan, including technical options, financial schemes and governance structures, with a focus on collective and community-based ownership models.
The experiences gathered across the nine case studies will generate practical knowledge, tools and strategies that can be replicated in other European communities, supporting the wider transition towards efficient, renewable and citizen-centred heating and cooling systems.
MUSE DHC Networks
Buurtwarmte Houten - Houten
Buurtwarmte Houten is a resident-led initiative that aims to bring residents together to investigate how homes can be heated and cooled without natural gas. The case study aims to develop a system that can be easily expanded to other neighbourhoods. To achieve this, the initiative aims to build and operate a low-temperature thermal energy storage system. This network, along with various geothermal energy storage systems, supplies heat to homes with heat pumps. The system also enables passive cooling using the same water in the summer, with thermal storage regenerated using surface water and solar energy. This concept can be suitable for many homes that don’t have a heat pump or are not connected to district heating. The main advantages of this system are its limited load on the grid, efficient heat conversion, passive cooling, and no noise pollution in winter or summer. The case study can thus inspire and provide valuable for other heating initiatives in the country.
Coggiola - Italy
The Coggiola case study focuses on the development of a biomass-fuelled DH network intended to supply public buildings, local enterprises, and residential users. The initial phase foresees the connection of the municipal building, educational facilities, and the local health centre, with scalability planned for up to approximately 600 end-users. The system design includes a primary distribution pipeline of around 1 km crossing the urban centre, allowing for future extensions towards industrial and residential clusters.
The project aims to progressively replace existing fossil fuel and natural gas boilers with a high-efficiency biomass heat generation system compliant with regional air-quality standards. Key objectives include reducing thermal energy costs, increasing supply stability in the context of volatile gas markets, and significantly lowering CO₂ and particulate emissions.
The initiative is embedded in a broader territorial strategy to reactivate the local forest–wood value chain aimed at mitigating hydrogeological risks and fostering local economic development. Coggiola strives to become a replicable model for community-led, renewable-based district heating systems across the Valsessera and Valsesia areas.
Larmor-Plage - France
The Larmor-Plage case study focuses on the creation of the municipality’s first district heating network to serve a new social and residential development in the Kerdreff neighbourhood, as well as nearby public and departmental buildings. The proposed system combines shallow geothermal energy, using vertical borehole probes below 200 metres, with solar thermal panels. Solar thermal energy will provide direct heat to the network and act as a seasonal recharge source for the geothermal field. Heat will be distributed through a low-temperature network, ensuring high system efficiency and a nearly fully renewable energy mix. The project addresses the municipality’s dependence on fossil fuels and supports long-term objectives to replace individual heating systems with collective renewable solutions.
The network is being developed in partnership with municipal services, Morbihan Habitat, SPL BER, and specialised engineering teams in geology and thermal system design. Larmor-Plage can prove that compact, integrated renewable solutions that combine geothermal baseload with solar-assisted seasonal management, stable heat prices, reduced emissions, and improved long-term energy resilience.
Les Masies de Voltregà - Spain
Les Masies de Voltregà is a low-density rural municipality in the Osona region of Catalonia. Heating demand is predominantly met through
individual systems, including domestic biomass, individual boilers, and limited
piped gas infrastructure. The case study highlights significant opportunities for expanding renewable-based district heating, particularly biomass networks in areas with sufficient thermal density and forest resources, as well as hybrid systems integrating solar thermal, heat recovery, and potentially geothermal energy. While industrial waste heat recovery is currently limited to isolated applications, the involvement of a large industrial actor in this case study is expected to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale heat recovery and contribute to reversing this trend at the regional level.
Lorient - Kerlétu - France
The Lorient–Kerlétu case study explores the development of a small district heating network supplied by recovered waste heat from the municipal crematorium. The crematorium currently operates on natural gas and releases unused thermal energy throughout the year. The project aims to capture this constant heat through a heat exchanger installed on the cremation process, transfer it to a low-temperature loop, and distribute it to nearby consumers, including municipal buildings and educational facilities. Complementary renewable heat sources, such as wood chips or geothermal energy, may be integrated to stabilise supply temperatures and accommodate future demand growth. The network is designed for short-distance, efficient distribution and contributes to Lorient’s broader strategy to decarbonise heat supply and reduce gas consumption in priority areas identified in the local district heating master plan. This case study highlights the potential of waste heat valorisation, reduced operating costs for end-users, and strengthened local energy sovereignty. It directly supports the LIFE MUSE-DHC objective of demonstrating replicable, community-oriented district heating solutions in European mid-sized cities.
Warm Assendorp - Zwolle
Warm Assendorp is a resident-led energy community created for continuing the development phase of the Green Renovation Project initiated by 50 Tinten Groen Assendorp. The project aims to create a neighbourhood free from natural gas. Although the project initially covered only 172 homes and two school buildings, strong interest from the residents’ improved participation in the project, thus expanding the scope to 500 homes, a school and a Catholic Teacher Training College. The project intends to build a 70-degree (high temperature) network, thus creating more flexibility for the residents, which allows stakeholders to either heat their homes at 45 degrees or increase it to 70 degrees. This initiative is a close collaboration with the Municipality of Zwolle, which considers it a “priority neighborhood initiative.” The project is in the development stage of creating a collective heating network supplied by a Neighbourhood Energy System consisting of collective air-water heat pumps, a gas boiler for backup and to handle peak demand, a hot water buffer and a small-scale Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage to store locally generated solar energy during the summer and reduce dependence on the gas boiler. The project takes an integrated approach, combining construction of the district heating network with other sustainability initiatives such as creation of green roofs and facade gardens and implementing gap-filling campaigns. The project aims to prove how a true green renovation can be initiated using the heat transition as a project driver, incorporating climate adaptation, greening and sustainable mobility, thus potentially serving as a blueprint for other heating initiatives in the country.
Warm Westerkwartier - Culemborg
The Warm Westerkwartier case study is a resident-led initiative focused on establishing a heat network using the heat from treated wastewater as a local and sustainable heat source. The study aims to harvest the waste heat from treated wastewater, which is at an average of 18 degrees Celsius and use it to make warm water at 70 degrees Celsius to heat 500 houses and a few utility buildings in the district. This is combined with a high-temperature heat pump, heat storage buffering, gas heaters for back-up and to meet peak demand, and wind energy from a nearby wind park. A pre-feasibility study confirmed that a heat network based on wastewater heat is a technically and financially viable option. Warm Westerkwartier aims to develop a bankable investment plan that meets the needs of the residents and can be implemented before 2030. Key challenges include securing sufficient household participation in signing the contract with the DHC company, ensuring availability of grid connection for the heat pump, and financing of the investment plan. The Warm Westerkwartier case study aims to potentially pave the way for more citizen initiatives in the Netherlands especially since almost every city or bigger village has a water purification plant that could be used as a heat source.
Sant Cugat Sesgarrigues - Spain
Sant Cugat Sesgarrigues is a compact municipality in the Alt Penedès region of Catalonia, with an economy traditionally based on viticulture. Heating demand is predominantly met through individual systems, relying primarily on natural gas and oil boilers, as biomass-based district heating is not prevalent in this area. The case study highlights the exploration of a 5th generation District Heating and Cooling (DHC) network. It focuses on a highly promising decarbonization pathway that combines high-efficiency heat pumps with local photovoltaic generation. This pilot stands out for its mixed public-community model, driven by the municipality and the local energy community, Ecosesgarrigues SCCL. The project aims to build upon recent municipal actions, such as the installation of aerothermal heat pumps in key public buildings, to demonstrate the feasibility of widespread renewable electrification and citizen participation.