Best-practices for district heating implementation in Belgium: Policy analysis and benchmark from countries with high market penetration

District Heating (DH) is an essential technology in a low carbon society to attain the CO₂ reduction targets of a country. Nevertheless, the implementation of DH is unevenly distributed across Europe. While some countries, like Denmark and Sweden, count with a mature heat market and a spread deployment of DH, some other countries, such as Belgium, have only installed specific projects until now. For an efficient DH implementation, the techniques and best-practices employed by the already developed countries must be evaluated and adapted to each particular regional and local circumstance. In this paper, the policy framework at the moment of starting the DH market in Denmark and Sweden is analyzed and benchmarked with the current Belgian situation. Both countries, Sweden and Denmark, initiated with a long term energy plan and clear supporting measures to enforce DH. On the contrary, Belgium does not yet count with a plan at national level, although some cities are taking the lead and the initiative in this field. The options to ensure the economic feasibility of the DH projects and to promote market penetration in Belgium are explored as well.