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Luftaufnahme eines Wohngebiets mit Einfamilienhäusern, Gärten und Straßen in einer grünen Umgebung.
© Shutterstock/geogif

City–Country–Region

Energy partnerships for local value creation

Goal: Establishing sustainable energy partnerships in towns, rural areas and regions to support the heating transition, so that they simultaneously drive forward decarbonisation, resilience and local value creation

Topics: Infrastructure, Districts, Heating transition, Redesigning buildings and areas

Runtime: 1 January 2026–31 December 2026

Luftaufnahme eines Dorfes mit umgebenden landwirtschaftlichen Feldern und einer Straße, die durch die Landschaft verläuft.
© Shutterstock/Iryna Shpulak

Our mission

Through this project, dena demonstrates how reliable energy partnerships can be established in towns, rural areas and regions. The heat transition, security of supply and local value creation go hand in hand. The focus is on the conditions for success that determine feasibility in practice: 

  • appropriate roles for stakeholders, 
  • favourable framework conditions,
  • sustainable financing, including bankability, 
  • smart governance, and 
  • standardisation that enables scaling.

The ‘City-Country-Region’ project has produced concrete guidelines and transferable building blocks that local authorities, project organisers, co-operatives and investors can apply directly.

 

Zwei große Metallrohre liegen parallel in einem Erdgraben, umgeben von Erde und Vegetation.
© Shutterstock/Martin Mecnarowski

Our approach

dena is working on solutions for new heating networks in rural areas. Three questions are at the forefront of this work:

  1. How can new heating networks generate local value for rural regions?
  2. How can new heating networks in rural areas be financed? 
  3. How can the process of securing funding be standardised?

Local value creation and the financing of district heating networks are directly interlinked: local equity, public participation and municipal commitment can strengthen the financing structure, spread risks and facilitate access to debt capital. 

Through more than 60 interviews, dena has brought together the perspectives of local authorities, municipal utilities, banks, research institutes, planning consultancies, interest groups, as well as cooperatives and project developers. A three-part series of workshops aims to connect relevant stakeholders and create a framework for the exchange of knowledge.

Our milestones

  • April 2026: Online workshop ‘Local heating networks in rural areas: criteria and success factors for sustainable financing’
  • June 2026: Online workshop “Local value creation: stakeholders, framework conditions and success factors for a sustainable heating transition”
  • September 2026: Face-to-face workshop: “Securing funding for local heating networks”

Please get in touch with us

  • Portrait Sirin Tezcan-Kamper
    © Hoffotografen
    Sirin Tezcan-Kamper

    Topic Lead Climate-Neutral Districts & Local Transformation