May 8, 2025 | 12pm ET

The need to decarbonize our communities requires us to explore different ways to think about utility planning, to better align infrastructure investments with a carbon-neutral future economy. Decarbonizing the building sector effectively will require us to move beyond building-by-building or appliance-by-appliance approaches. More local and area-based planning approaches to buildings and local energy infrastructure could maximize the transition while minimizing costs and risks. These strategies may include a mix of solutions. In certain contexts, thermal energy networks (TENs) may offer a promising alternative to traditional building-by-building decarbonization approaches.  

In the right conditions, TENs have the potential to offer economies of scale, improve energy performance, reduce peak electricity demand impacts, facilitate workforce transitions, and protect ratepayers, all while lowering sector emissions. However, the extent of their potential and their limitations remains an open question.  

This interactive webinar will bring together expert perspectives to explore both the opportunities, and the challenges associated with TENs.  

During this webinar, participants will gain insights on how to distinguish between common misconceptions and genuine technical, regulatory, or financial barriers, how to consider the trade-offs associated with TENs and into implementation strategies, commercial structures of some projects and lessons learned from early experiences. 

This session will be moderated by Gerard MacDonald, Principal at Reshape Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in sustainable energy systems, district energy, and decarbonization planning. Our presenters include Keith Bate, Director of Engineering at Creative Energy, a pioneering developer of district energy systems in Canada.  Aurélie Beauvais, Managing Director of Euroheat & Power, the international network for district heating and cooling, and Amy Jacobs, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations at Enwave, one of North America’s largest district energy providers, known for its innovative, low-carbon thermal energy systems in urban centres.