WIS heat-network investment grant
Grants for heat-network investors to build or expand district heating that replaces natural gas in existing homes and buildings.
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WIS supports the construction or expansion of a district distribution network: the local pipes, transfer stations and connections that deliver heat to buildings. A project can also include the linked primary network that transports heat from the source, and proven thermal storage that serves the network. Eligible investment costs must be incurred and paid by you, capitalised on your balance sheet and incurred during the project period. Direct construction labour is eligible up to €65 per hour.
The grant covers up to 30% of eligible investment costs, rising to 40% for medium-sized enterprises and 50% for small enterprises. Separate ceilings apply: €7,000 per qualifying connection for district distribution, and €4,000 per qualifying connection for the primary network and/or thermal storage. These ceilings include labour and third-party costs. The first applicable limit reached determines the grant, with an overall maximum of €30 million per project.
For individual connections, eligible investment extends through the new heat-delivery unit; an apartment needs its own new unit. A heat pump combined with a delivery unit can qualify only for the delivery-unit components. For a shared block connection, support stops at the building façade. Heat sources, heat pumps themselves, internal installations after the delivery unit and work behind the façade for block connections are excluded. Components exclusively serving new buildings, users above 100 kW or industrial process heat are excluded; shared network components can be included. Customer recruitment, financing and general administrative costs are also excluded.
Eligibility
- You must be the enterprise investing at its own cost and risk, paying the investment costs and putting the network on its balance sheet. The project template identifies the applicant as the future owner and operator. Heat companies and heat cooperatives can apply. A municipality cannot apply directly, but a municipal heat company or a heat company with municipal participation can. A project company must be established before applying.
- The network must supply at least 250 connections of at most 100 kW, or homes behind a shared block connection, across at least five existing buildings. Your project area must be geographically contiguous. You may connect selected parts first, but any primary network must be sized for the future heat demand of the full project area.
- From the project end date, delivered heat must emit strictly less than 25 kg CO₂ per gigajoule. Demonstrate this using RVO’s sustainability reporting model. For a new or substantially renovated network or heat source, fossil-fuel use must not increase over the preceding three-year average, and new fossil sources in that system may use only natural gas. A renovation is substantial when it costs more than 50% of a comparable new system.
- Show that the network will be used, that customers are expected to take heat and that the project fits municipal heat-transition plans. Involve the necessary heat producers, customers, municipality and other partners through supported agreements. The intended small users must receive an offer at a realistic market price. Show why subsidy is needed and why the project is technically, economically and legally feasible, with a credible plan to finance your own share.
- Apply before starting the project or entering binding commitments such as a construction contract or customer heat-supply contract, even if no payment has been made. Do not split mutually dependent investments to avoid European aid thresholds. RVO must find that your enterprise is not an “undertaking in difficulty” under the European state-aid financial test when it approves the grant. Check this using RVO’s required declaration and decision tree, supported by your group’s recent accounts and ownership structure. Prior WIS for the same project prevents another award unless it has been irrevocably withdrawn or finally determined.
- Normally, start incurring eligible costs within six months of the award, make the investment and financing decisions within one year, issue the construction order within three years and complete within seven years. For partial construction orders, the first must cover a substantial share of eligible investment. Notify RVO of decisions and orders; the minister may extend these deadlines on request where appropriate.
- Report other public grants, guarantees and favourable loans for RVO’s aid-combination assessment. Contributions from municipalities, provinces, water boards, joint public bodies and other administrative authorities are treated as public cofinancing and excluded from the national per-project maximum calculation. SDE++ can be combined without reducing WIS, although WIS may affect the later SDE++ maximum-support assessment. SAH can also be combined without reducing either grant; the connection contributions must agree across the applications.
How to apply
- Statut
- clôture 30 nov. 2026
- Ouverture
- Clôture
- Conditions de cette période de candidature
- Complete applications are processed in order of receipt; a lottery applies to complete applications received on the day the budget is exceeded.[^c16]
You can first send RVO a short project idea for an advice discussion; eligibility is assessed through the full application. Apply using the “Direct aanvragen” link on RVO’s WIS page. RVO processes complete applications in order of receipt, with a lottery if several complete applications exhaust the budget on the same day.
Use RVO’s project-plan template and the latest financial model, currently the July 2026 version. Submit a consistent project plan, operating calculation, milestone budget, financing plan, network design and cost breakdown, sustainability calculation and supporting partner agreements. Include permits or concessions where applicable, the enterprise-in-difficulty declaration and, for the higher small/medium enterprise rates, an SME declaration.
The operating calculation shows your investment, revenues and economic feasibility. Base tariffs on the latest ACM maximum heat tariffs; substantiate different amounts and component-cost assumptions in the project plan with supporting documents. Any tariff discount stated in the application must actually be offered to users. If net present value including subsidy is negative—meaning the model’s discounted future income does not cover its costs—include a statement explaining how you will finance the remaining gap.
After an award, report technical and financial progress annually, keep project records and promptly report material changes, including other public aid and changes to heat sources. Request final subsidy determination within 13 weeks of the approved project end. RVO assesses actual costs and delivery and reconciles the final grant with advances; lower costs or omitted work can reduce the grant.