4.

Member States shall lay down the necessary measures to ensure that district heating and cooling systems contribute to the increase referred to in Article 23(1) of this Directive by implementing at least one of the two following options: Endeavour to increase the share of energy from renewable sources and from waste heat and cold in district heating and cooling by at least one percentage point as an annual average calculated for the period 2021 to 2025 and for the period 2026 to 2030, starting from the share of energy from renewable sources and from waste heat and cold in district heating and cooling in 2020, expressed in terms of share of final energy consumption in district heating and cooling, by implementing measures that can be expected to trigger that average annual increase in years with normal climatic conditions. Member States with a share of energy from renewable sources and from waste heat and cold in district heating and cooling above 60 % may count any such share as fulfilling the average annual increase referred to in the first subparagraph of this point. Member States shall lay down the necessary measures to implement the average annual increase referred to in the first subparagraph of this point in their integrated national energy and climate plans pursuant to Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999. Ensure that operators of district heating or cooling systems are obliged to connect suppliers of energy from renewable sources and from waste heat and cold or are obliged to offer to connect and purchase heat or cold from renewable sources and from waste heat and cold from third-party suppliers based on non-discriminatory criteria set by the competent authority of the Member State concerned, where they need to do one or more of the following: meet demand from new customers; replace existing heat or cold generation capacity; expand existing heat or cold generation capacity.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-28 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.