Renewable cooling according to the European Renewable Energy Directive

In the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), EU member states set targets and agreements regarding renewable energy. The RED has existed since 2009 (Directive 2009/28/EC) and was revised in 2018 (Directive (EU) 2018/2001, RED II, effective from 2021) and again in 2023 (Directive (EU) 2023/2413, RED III, effective from 2025). Besides targets for the share of renewables in total energy consumption, the Directive includes several sub-targets, such as the share of renewable energy for transport and the share of renewable energy for heating and cooling. Monitoring of RED targets is done through reporting to EUROSTAT (via SHARES). In the Netherlands, CBS carries out this reporting. CBS also publishes statistics on renewable energy consumption following RED definitions on StatLine.

Since the RED II came into force in 2021, renewable energy for cooling may, under certain conditions, be counted for both the total share of renewable energy and for sub-targets related to heating and cooling. In this way, RED monitoring differs from regular international energy statistics, which do not consider cold as an energy source.

The definition of and calculation method for determining the amount of renewable cooling are set out in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/759. Cold is defined as the heat extracted from an enclosed space in order to reduce the space temperature to or maintain it at a specified temperature. Passive cooling, cooling in means of transportation, cooling in cold stores, cooling with set points below 2°C or above 30°C and cooling of waste heat from industrial processes shall not be counted according to the Delegated Regulation. The Netherlands has chosen not to include any process cooling, as it falls under the aforementioned exceptions in most cases. 

Whether and to what extent cooling is considered renewable depends on the efficiency of the cooling device, quantified through the seasonal performance factor in terms of primary energy (SPF_p). The minimum efficiency requirement is an SPF_p of 1.4. Cooling by systems with an SPF_p of 6.0 or higher counts as fully renewable and at an SPF_p between 1.4 and 6.0, the cooling is partially renewable. The more efficient the system, the higher the proportion that counts as renewable.

The implementation of the calculation method for renewable cooling in the Netherlands is described in the monitoring protocol (CBS & RVO, 2022, in Dutch). Importantly, there are two calculation methods: one based on standard values and one based on measurements. Standard values should only be used for (compression) cooling devices with a cooling capacity below 1.5 megawatts and for which standard efficiency values are available. For systems larger than 1.5 megawatts, district cooling and free cooling such aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) or ground energy systems, the Delegated Regulation requires the use of measured values per reporting year.

What needs to be measured is the amount of heat extracted, the energy consumption of the cooling device and its auxiliary systems and, in the case of a distribution network, the energy consumption of the distribution system and the distribution losses. CBS has been in contact with several operators of ATES systems and found that these data are generally not measured in sufficient detail and thus not available. The figure on renewable cooling calculated by CBS therefore only includes systems for which standard values may be used. These are air conditioners (single split, multi-split, VRF, rooftop) and chillers, with a cooling capacity below 1.5 megawatts.

For the calculation method based on standard values, the key data points are the total cooling capacity and the average efficiency (SPF_p) of all installed cooling systems, broken down by sector (residential or non-residential). The average efficiency determines what percentage of the cooling supply counts as renewable.

CBS has obtained historical sales figures (2010-2023) for the Dutch market in terms of number of units, average cooling capacity and efficiency through BSRIA Market Intelligence. For sales year 2009, CBS estimated these data. Assuming a lifespan of 15 years, the total installed cooling capacity and average efficiency could thus be determined for 2023. For the distribution by sectors, information from BSRIA on the distribution by sectors for different types of cooling systems in sales year 2023 was used. As no further information was available, that distribution was applied to all sales years.

The cooling capacity of the installed base by the end of 2023 is estimated to be 6.2 gigawatts in the residential sector and 9.5 gigawatts in non-residential buildings, with an average SPF_p of 2.79 (residential) and 2.47 (non-residential). The table below shows a breakdown by type of cooling system in terms of both cooling capacity and average efficiency. Systems that do not meet the minimum efficiency requirement in the Delegated Regulation (SPF_p of 1.4) have been excluded.

Besides cooling capacity and average efficiency, the number of equivalent full-load hours is also required for the calculation based on standard values. The equivalent full-load hours are determined based on the number of cooling degree days in the reporting year. Cooling degree days are a measure of cooling requirements in a given period and are calculated using the average temperature per day and two parameters: a minimum temperature and a reference temperature. The number of cooling degree days is calculated as the sum of the deviations from the reference temperature for all days where the average temperature exceeds the minimum temperature. The Delegated Regulation sets the reference and minimum temperatures at 18 degrees. A day with an average temperature of 20 degrees thus yields 2 cooling degree days. Days with an average temperature of 18 degrees or lower do not count. CBS uses averaged daily temperature data from Agri4Cast (Joint Research Centre European Commission, 2024) for this calculation.

The number of cooling degree days in 2023 was 147. That is considerably higher than what Eurostat has published elsewhere (Eurostat, 2024). This is because different parameters were used for calculating that figure, namely a reference temperature of 21 degrees and a minimum temperature of 24 degrees.

On 24 October 2024, TNO published a report on the share of renewable heating and cooling according to RED III definitions and its expected increase (TNO, 2024, in Dutch). As no CBS data were available at that time, TNO used the best available information to estimate the amount of renewable cooling in the Netherlands. For 2023, that estimate came to 11.0 petajoules, of which 2.6 petajoules from air conditioners and 8.3 petajoules from ground energy systems. The data sources used and thus the outcomes differ from CBS calculations in some respects. 

Unlike CBS, TNO included geothermal cold in its estimate. In the CBS calculation, this is not included because the Delegated Regulation requires detailed measurement data for ground energy systems, which are not available in practice. On the other hand, non-reversible cooling devices such as chillers are missing from TNO's estimate, because TNO relied on CBS data on (reversible) air conditioners that can (also) be used for heating. Data on chillers were not available at the time the TNO report was published. As a result, the installed capacity of cooling systems in non-residential buildings, excluding geothermal cooling, is considerably lower, according to TNO.

Finally, to calculate the average energy efficiency of air conditioners, TNO used data from the Ecodesign Impact Accounting report (European Commission, 2024). Those data are based on relatively old studies and minimum efficiency requirements and not specific to the Netherlands. BSRIA's data suggest that the efficiency of the larger cooling systems in the Netherlands is significantly higher in practice. As a result, the percentage of cooling that counts as renewable in the non-residential sector is considerably higher in the CBS figures than in TNO's estimate.

CBS & RVO (2022). Protocol Monitoring Hernieuwbare Energie.

European Commission: Directorate-General Energy (2024). Ecodesign impact accounting status report 2023, part 2. 

European Parliament and the Council (2009). Directive 2009/28/EG of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC. 

European Parliament and the Council (2018). Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast). 

European Parliament and the Council (2022). Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/759 of 14 December 2021 amending Annex VII to Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards a methodology for calculating the amount of renewable energy used for cooling and district cooling. 

European Parliament and the Council (2023). Directive (EU) 2023/2413 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and Directive 98/70/EC as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652. 

Eurostat (2024). Cooling and heating degree days by country.

Eurostat. Short assessment of renewable energy sources (SHARES). 

Joint Research Centre European Commission (2024). Gridded Agro-Meteorological Data in Europe.

TNO (2024). Toename aandeel hernieuwbare warmte.