If entire streets or districts are connected to the district heating network, homeowners should not have to install a heat pump when replacing the heating system. According to a report by the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Monday), this is based on a resolution submitted by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) for a meeting with local authorities and industry representatives. “If a heating network operator is pursuing such an expansion, interested building owners (…) should be exempted from the obligation to install a heating system that meets the 65 percent requirement for renewable energies,” the paper says, according to the newspaper.
Habeck and Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz (SPD) invited industry representatives to the meeting on Monday in Berlin. This should send a “clear signal of departure” for the climate-neutral conversion and expansion of the district heating supply, as it was said in advance.
The municipal utility association VKU still sees obstacles to the expansion of district heating. VKU general manager Ingbert Liebing calls, among other things, for a longer, billion-dollar state subsidy. Liebing told the German Press Agency before the “district heating summit”: “It is good that the federal government has declared that we want to advance district heating. But then hurdles must also be removed. I expect the district heating summit to provide a significant impetus and concrete proposals.”
“There are still many obstacles to the expansion of district heating,” said Liebing. “But district heating should and will have to make a significant contribution to ensuring that we manage the heat transition overall.” There shouldn’t be a focus only on the heat pump. “Everyone knows that, realistically speaking, it will only be a solution.”
On the one hand, the federal government is planning a reform of the building energy law – the so-called heating law – as well as a reform of municipal heat planning. According to the draft law, states and municipalities should present concrete plans in the coming years on how they want to convert their heating infrastructure to be climate-neutral. This is intended to give citizens an important orientation by letting them know whether their house will soon be connected to a district or local heating network – or whether they should convert their heating to a heat pump or other options in the foreseeable future.
“There must be an interlocking of the Building Energy Act with municipal heating planning,” said Liebing. “Ultimately, the expansion of district heating will be decided on site by the suppliers and the municipalities, who have to create clarity for customers and network operators. Where do you see potential for district heating, where less? Where is it more about electrical solutions? Or where is the switch from gas to hydrogen network possible? That is the essential starting point for us so that we can now make rapid progress with the heat plans.”
The Association of Municipal Companies (VKU) sees potential for doubling or tripling in district heating. “But that takes time and these are capital-intensive projects. That’s why there will also be financing issues.” Federal funding for efficient heating networks will expire in 2026. Long-term support is necessary.
So far, a total of three billion euros are in the pot by 2026. “But we need these three billion euros annually in government funding until the mid-1930s.”
In the “Rheinische Post” (Monday), Gerd Landsberg, general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, also called for municipal heat planning to be linked with the Building Energy Act. “At the same time, the federal states would have to regulate that when establishing a local or district heating network, there is usually an obligation to connect and use it in order to ensure the economic efficiency of the systems,” said Landsberg.
The Vice General Manager of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Achim Dercks, told the DPA: “Many companies see district heating as an opportunity for the climate-friendly supply of their buildings or entire commercial areas.” That is why it is right to focus more on the expansion and conversion of the pipe-bound heat supply. “However, as the feedback from the local companies shows us, the acceptance of this depends on important prerequisites: The focus here is on competitive prices that can be calculated in the long term.”
The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) sees district heating as a “central building block for a successful heat transition”. This applies not only to cities, but also offers potential in rural areas, said the chairwoman of the BDEW main management, Kerstin Andreae, the “Rheinische Post” (Monday). “In order to accelerate the expansion, however, we need momentum from the federal government,” warned Andreae. From the point of view of the energy industry, a stable, reliable and adequate funding framework is necessary.
The consumer centers call for more transparency on the district heating market. Heating networks are a market “where the providers have practically unregulated monopolies,” association leader Ramona Pop told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). “District heating can be an important building block for the decarbonization of the heat supply,” emphasized Pop. However, better framework conditions for consumers are urgently needed.
