Training needs assessment & material: Training needs assessment was done with 52 DHS operators among the KeepWarm countries to identify individual training needs and develop a tailor-made capacity approach. In total 813 participants (617 DHS employees and 196 external stakeholders) have increased their skills/capability/ competencies. The used training material is open available on the KeepWarm website.
Technical and economic feasibility studies: Ensuring a sustainable uptake of DHS, the current state of DHS, the renewable energy source potential in the countries and an analysis of the DHS market, including current and potential consumers, were done. In total 23 feasibility studies were created for the KeepWarm partner DHSs, including in total 73 tailor-made scenarios on how to optimise the specific DHSs.
Business plans: 109 specialists were trained on business plan development and 24 Business Models for the modernization of DHS were developed of which 12 reached overall investments of 111.3 Million €.
Investments: 12 DHSs finalized several investment phases and achieved investments of approx. 111.3 Million €:
Until the end of 2023, the overall expected investment is approx. 280.5 Million € into RES integration (biomass and solar energy), grid optimisation and expansion, boiler rooms’ renovation and other energy efficiency measures. Until the end of 2028 overall approx. 617.5 Million € investments are expected.
Primary Energy savings share of RES and CO 2 reduction: KeepWarm achieved in its project duration 484,24 GWh primary energy savings, an increase of RES use of 223,42 GWh & a reduction of 98.201 t greenhouse gas emissions.
Replicable DHS demo cases: 24 demo cases are promoted on the project website of which 11 DHSs are selected to be replication models which have either finished with retrofit process or are extended, while other demo cases are either ongoing or will be implemented. In certain countries, one model can represent more finished/ ongoing investments due to the similarity in approach (e.g. pipeline renovation or change of energy source).
Strategic importance of future energy systems featured - Energy and climate plans: Efforts of the KeepWarm Consortium resulted in an analysis of the current regulatory framework and barriers in its partner countries, while findings serve as input for the development of Action plans for retrofitting, DHS recommendations for strategy or plan integration and for the support to 2nd Comprehensive Assessment of the potential for efficient heating and cooling. Overall the KeepWam consortium advised 30 energy and climate plans on local, regional or national level. Furthermore, the KeepWarm consortium developed a Comprehensive Assessment guide and shared it with relevant stakeholder and entities/ organizations to ensure that the potential for the application of high-efficient CHP and efficient district heating and cooling will be applied.
Exploitation: To exploit KeepWarm results and its approach, the project partners offer (1) comprehensive and independent solutions for DHS, starting with a quick overview of potential steps for optimisation, networking support, technical support, consulting, market uptake and access to finance, and (2) training materials for DHS personnel (and other stakeholders) and Policy Guidelines
