Enhance Europe is a European research project exploring how urban streets can be transformed into sources of clean, reusable energy. Launched in Padua in June 2025, the project brings together 13 partners across 9 countries to support Europe’s transition toward more sustainable, climate-resilient cities.
Last June, the historic Palazzo Bo in Padua hosted the opening conference of Enhance Europe (ENergy HArvestiNg CollEctors for Urban ROad PavEment), a European research project aiming to turn city streets into active systems for clean energy. The event marked the official launch of the initiative, bringing together all partners to share initial findings and outline the path ahead.
The core idea behind the project is to capture the solar heat absorbed by road surfaces and redirect it to supply hot water or thermal energy to nearby buildings. This heat is usually lost and often contributes to the overheating of urban environments. Reclaiming it turns a passive surface into a local energy resource, adding one more piece to the puzzle of reducing fossil fuel reliance and moving toward climate neutrality.
“Enhance Europe aims to support the energy transition by transforming a widely available and underutilised element of urban infrastructure, road pavements, into active energy-harvesting systems,” says Giovanni Giacomello, researcher at the University of Padua and member of the coordination team. “By integrating solar thermal collectors into asphalt surfaces, the project enables the collection and redistribution of renewable energy, contributing directly to decarbonisation objectives, especially in the context of the EU’s 2050 targets.”
Rethinking the asphalt on our roads
Supported by the European CETPartnership programme and set to run for three years, Enhance Europe brings together 13 institutions from 9 countries, including universities, research centres, technology companies, and public authorities. The University of Padua coordinates the project and involves key partners such as the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), Riga Technical University (Latvia), the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (Catalonia), the University of Vaasa (Finland), nollaE, the city of Gyöngyös (Hungary), and the Romanian Energy Center (CRE).
The project incorporates a strong and diverse interdisciplinary approach. Enhance Europe explores new ways to embed renewable systems within existing infrastructure, without competing for land use or altering the urban landscape. “Roads and pavements cover vast surfaces that are constantly exposed to solar radiation,” adds Giacomello. “Our project harnesses this heat, converting it into usable energy. Their scale, ubiquity, and direct connection with urban infrastructure make pavements a promising and efficient platform for renewable energy integration.”
The Mediterranean, in particular, offers fertile ground for this transformation. “In the Mediterranean arc, where solar exposure is high and interest in thermal energy is growing, these systems offer strong potential,” says David Romero, researcher at the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica. “Traditionally, we’ve painted buildings white to reflect the sun and reduce heat gains. Now we can use dark asphalt to deliberately capture that same energy. Turning passive surfaces into contributors to sustainability.”
Four cities across Europe will become living labs
Over the next three years, Enhance Europe will deploy four full-scale demonstrators in Padua (Italy), Ostrava (Czech Republic), Riga (Latvia), and Vaasa (Finland). Each site will test the system under different climatic and urban conditions. These test grounds will allow researchers to monitor performance, refine components, test control algorithms and sensors, and develop digital twins for simulation and remote management.
“International collaboration is a fundamental strength of Enhance Europe,” notes Giacomello. “It allows us to adapt and validate the technology in diverse climatic, regulatory, and infrastructural contexts. This broadens the applicability and robustness of the solutions developed.” The thermal system developed by Enhance Europe embeds metal or composite pipes under a thin layer of road surface. These pipes collect heat and transfer it to a fluid, usually water, which can then be redirected to serve local energy needs.
The system also helps lower road surface temperatures, contributing to the mitigation of urban heat islands during summer months. The project also explores durability and infrastructure resilience. “By redistributing heat and reducing extreme temperature swings, pavements can improve their thermal performance over time, reducing extreme temperature swings and potentially extending the lifespan of road materials”, explains Romero, “thereby lowering maintenance needs and improving the overall efficiency of infrastructure usage.”
Turning waste heat into shared value
On a broader scope, Enhance Europe challenges us to rethink how urban environments work. Space in cities is more and more scarce, yet energy potential often goes unnoticed. “The project aims to make visible and accessible some of the untapped potential that already exists in our cities,” says Romero. “Even the heat from asphalt, often dismissed as a nuisance, can become a shared asset if we learn how to capture and reuse it.”
Enhance Europe aligns with the EU’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on clean energy and with the New European Bauhaus, which combines sustainability, functionality, and quality of life. “We aim to deliver replicable models, technical guidelines, and open data that can inform policy, inspire further innovation, and support the wider adoption of renewable infrastructure solutions,” concludes Giacomello. “Ultimately, Enhance Europe aspires to contribute to more resilient, energy-efficient, and climate-neutral urban environments.”
You can stay updated with the progress of the project through its website at https://enhanceeurope.eu/.