100% RHC Annual Event 2025 Highlights Europe’s Drive Toward a Clean Heating and Cooling Future

News - 15 May 2025

Brussels, May 2025 — The 2025 edition of the 100% RHC event (the Renewable Heating and Cooling (RHC) ETIP′s Annual Event brought together key stakeholders from across Europe to discuss the future of renewable heating and cooling within the sustainable energy system. With a strong focus on innovation, policy alignment, and cross-sector collaboration, the event underscored the urgency and opportunity in decarbonising the heating and cooling (H&C) sectors.

€86 Million for RHC R&I in Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025

The keynote speaker, Beatrice Coda from DG Research, announced the pre-publication of the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025, which allocates roughly €86 million to (up to) 14 projects applicable to different RHC sectors. Speaking about the Clean industrial Deal, the initiative aims to drive affordable energy, circularity, and job creation while derisking investments in clean technologies. A flagship call under Horizon Europe’s Work Programme 2026-27 will further support deployment-ready projects, bridging the gap between research and industrial application. She also highlighted the need for RHC-ETIP to support the preparation of the EU’s Heating and Cooling strategy foreseen for Q1 of 2026.

Technological Innovation and System Integration

In his keynote presentation, the chair of RHC-ETIP Marco Calderoni emphasized the need to harness surplus renewable energy through storage and flexibility. He highlighted the potential to reduce energy waste, especially in winter, and called for scalable RHC solutions.

Advancing Renewable Heating and Cooling Deployment in Europe

Innovative tools like CoolLIFE’s decision-support platform were showcased by Giulia Conforto (e-Think), offering data-driven insights for national and regional planning. The tool integrates economic feasibility, user behavior, and policy mapping to support district heating and cooling (DHC) development.

Teodora-Emilia Motoasca of Daikin Europe presented modular DHC systems that grow from small-scale heat pump installations to large networks, aligning with the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Dimitris Papageorgiou of TVP Solar highlighted the untapped potential of solar thermal technologies in industrial processes. Case studies like Solindarity demonstrated the benefits of integrating multiple RHC technologies.

Meanwhile, Delia Villagrasa of the Cool Heating Coalition stressed the role of civil society in pushing for faster decarbonization, especially in light of the cost-of-living crisis and energy security concerns.

Parallel sessions on collaborative advancements in RHC and system integration

The afternoon sessions explored advancements in district heating and cooling, RHC system integration and various examples of innovative RHC systems. Projects from DLR, KU Leuven, AIT or CERTH showcased practical applications ranging from smart storage in Genk to emissions-free harbors in Hamburg.

In addition to the main sessions, the event featured two parallel matchmaking sessions dedicated to the recently published and forthcoming call topics under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 and the LIFE programme. These sessions provided a dynamic platform for participants to explore collaborative opportunities, exchange project ideas, and connect with potential partners aligned with the EU’s strategic priorities in research, innovation, and environmental sustainability. The focused discussions helped foster early-stage consortia building and encouraged proactive engagement with the upcoming funding landscape.

Looking Ahead

The event concluded with a compelling address by Chair Marco Calderoni, who underscored the significant added value brought by the Renewable Heating and Cooling (RHC) platform in bringing together stakeholders from different RHC sectors. He highlighted the importance of the upcoming national and regional roundtables being organized under the platform’s umbrella, which aim to foster deeper stakeholder engagement and policy alignment. The platform′s chair also emphasized the critical need for the forthcoming EU Heating and Cooling (H&C) strategy to incorporate insights and contributions from the RHC platform, ensuring that the collective expertise of its members informs the EU’s path toward a greener energy future.

As Europe accelerates its clean energy transition, the 100% RHC Event 2025 reaffirmed the sectors’ commitment to innovation, collaboration, and climate resilience.

You can download the presentations here:

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