ETS funds major EU heat pump projects
4th July 2026
EUROPE: Heat pump projects in Czechia and Croatia are among 51 energy-related projects to benefit from €2.5bn of total funding from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank.
This latest disbursement, from the EU’s Modernisation Fund, supports projects in 11 lower-income EU member states. It is financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System.
Funding is also being provided to assist Croatia in implementing the European Green Deal with help to upgrade its aging refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems.
Funding of nearly €4.3m has been pledged for the decarbonisation of the Mařatice district heating plant in Uherské Hradiště in Czechia. The work includes the installation of two large-capacity industrial air-to-water heat pumps and heat storage to replace its coal-burning plant.
The coal-fired plant in Hodonin, Mělník, also in Czechia, will benefit from two separate funding proposals totalling over €28m. Nearly €23.7m will be provided for a project relating to partial replacement of the outdated coal-fired plant with an industrial heat pump, or a cascade of multiple heat pumps, with a total thermal output of approximately 25MWt. A further €4.6m will be provided for a 5MWt industrial heat pump to supply heat to the DH system.
A project to replace gas boilers supplying the Unicovská and Vítězná district heating systems in the city of Litovel has attracted €4.26m in funding. The proposal plans an energy centre with heat pumps using wastewater from the municipal wastewater treatment plant and the addition of heat storage.
In Croatia heat pumps are being included in the modernisation of the energy and transportation systems of public institutions responsible for managing Croatia’s national and nature parks. The €18m in funding covers heating and cooling solutions based on renewable sources, notably heat pumps. It also covers the installation of PV systems on rooftops and parking areas and the deployment of associated equipment for energy storage.
To help it implement the European Green Deal, Croatia is also being provided with €35m in this latest round of disbursements to upgrade its inefficient high GWP refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems. The investment proposal concerns a scheme for the period 2026-2028 relating to the replacement of existing inefficient systems, typically older than 10 years, with modern, energy-efficient systems using “natural” refrigerants.
The latest disbursements brings the total funding made available from the Modernisation Fund to €23.2bn since January 2021. The beneficiary member states of this round of funding are Czechia (€516.8m), Estonia (€44.8m), Greece (€233.9m), Croatia (€109m), Latvia (€40m), Lithuania (€169m) Hungary (€552.3m), Poland (€180m), Portugal (€81.4m), Romania (€636.9m) and Slovenia (€20.2m).
