The European Commission has officially opened the LIFE 2025 Calls for Proposals, unlocking a total envelope of €600 million to accelerate clean-energy transitions across Europe. Of particular relevance to our industry is the LIFE-2025-CET-DHC topic “Supporting district heating and cooling networks,” which seeks innovative projects that integrate renewable energy sources, valorise waste-heat streams and digitalise system operations to deliver significant CO₂ reductions and operational efficiencies (CINEA).

Under this single-stage call, eligible applicants—including public authorities, utilities, technology providers, SMEs, research organisations and sector consortia—are invited to demonstrate solutions with clear environmental benefits, robust business models and strong replication potential across EU markets. Projects should articulate measurable climate-action impacts, describe scalable technical approaches and outline strategies for knowledge transfer to peer networks.

Key administrative details for the LIFE-2025-CET-DHC call are as follows:

Publication & Opening Date: 24 April 2025
Deadline for Submission: 23 September 2025 at 23:59 CEST
Reference Code: LIFE-2025-CET-DHC

Applicants can access the full call fiche, application templates and evaluation criteria on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/LIFE-2025-CET-DHC

To maximise your chances of success, we recommend:

Engaging Early with your National Contact Point for eligibility checks and proposal‐writing support.
Consulting Past Projects in the LIFE database to benchmark best practices in renewable integration and district heating system digitalisation.
Preparing for Info Days, where CINEA experts will present guidance on work plan structuring, key performance indicators and budget alignment (dates to be confirmed on the portal).

Don’t miss this opportunity to secure up to 95% co-funding for capital and operational expenses and to position your network at the forefront of Europe’s climate-neutral ambition. We look forward to seeing your innovative district heating and cooling solutions drive the clean-energy transition across the continent.

LIFE 2025 funding opportunity for innovative district heating & cooling networks