The aim of this contribution is a comparative analysis of the challenges Poland and Greece (and more broadly - CEE-10 and GIPS countries) had to face in the past as latecomers to the European Union and are facing now, in the aftermath of the world financial and economic crisis of 2008-09.

Options for cost efficient expansion of present district heat networks in Germany are in the scope of this work. It develops a bottom-up model approach studying a broad variety of scenarios on network expansion until 2030.