The traffic light factions have specified the planned funding for the gradual switch to more climate-friendly heating systems. The eligible investment costs for the heating replacement should therefore be a maximum of 30,000 euros for a single-family house. This emerges from the draft for a motion for a resolution on the Building Energy Act (GEG) by the SPD, Greens and FDP, which was presented to the German Press Agency in Berlin on Tuesday. It is to be decided on Friday alongside the so-called heating law.
In essence, the GEG provides that in future only heating systems that can be operated with at least 65 percent renewable energies may be installed in the future. Up to 70 percent of the costs are to be funded for the switch – but there is no precise concept yet. In the traffic light application, the federal government is asked to submit a funding concept and to “implement certain specifications”.
According to the application, the maximum eligible costs for apartment buildings should be EUR 30,000 for the first residential unit, EUR 10,000 each for the second to sixth residential units, and EUR 3,000 each for the seventh residential unit. In the case of homeowners’ associations, the regulation should be applied accordingly, in the case of non-residential buildings, similar limits based on the number of square meters apply.
Post: “Funding of up to 70 percent”
SPD parliamentary group deputy Achim Post said: “Especially citizens with small and medium-sized incomes, we give a lot of support when replacing the heating system – with a subsidy of up to 70 percent.” Landlords, non-profit organizations and municipalities would also be supported with basic funding.
Green Group Vice President Andreas Audretsch said: “Heating with fossil oil and gas is becoming more and more expensive. Climate-friendly heating saves money in the medium term. We are making the switch social and fair.”
FDP parliamentary group leader Lukas Köhler emphasized that people could decide for themselves as part of municipal heating planning whether they would like to install a gas heating system that can be converted to hydrogen, a wood heating system or a heat pump. He warned against far-reaching European requirements. In their application, the traffic light groups call on the federal government to “attempt a harmonization of relevant EU legal acts along the Building Energy Act at European level”.
Critics: Compulsory heat pumps through the back door
The background is, among other things, an update of an EU law on specifications for the efficiency of new heating devices, which according to the draft could apply from 2029. Heaters should therefore have an efficiency of at least 115 percent. Critics see it as a heat pump requirement through the back door. In addition, stricter requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings are currently being discussed. Accordingly, many properties would have to be renovated in the coming years. “The proposals made by the President of the Commission from the CDU would be extremely expensive for the citizens and could hardly be implemented in practice,” said Köhler, referring to Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU Commission states that such an efficiency can already be achieved today with hybrid systems that use energy from fuels such as natural gas, biofuel or synthetic fuels as well as energy from a heat pump or solar collectors.
