Local authorities must draw up heating plans in future
In future, local authorities will have to draw up so-called heating plans. The Bundestag passed a law to this effect on Friday with the votes of the "traffic light" parties against the opposition. It is linked to the coalition's much-discussed Building Energy Act (GEG), also known as the Heating Act.
Only when a local authority has a heating plan do homeowners have to ensure that their new heating system is powered by at least 65% renewable energy when it is installed. The political goal is for Germany to become climate-neutral by 2045, i.e. to emit no more greenhouse gases than can be absorbed.
The Heat Planning Act provides for cities and municipalities to draw up maps and plans in the coming years to show which areas could be connected to central heating networks in the future - with heat supply from geothermal, hydrogen or biomass power plants or waste heat from industry, for example.
Climate-friendly heat
The plans are intended to show where heating networks for climate-friendly heat are available in a municipality, where these could still be built and where this is difficult to implement and buildings will continue to need their own heating. Homeowners can then plan accordingly.
According to the law, large cities must draw up a heating plan by June 30, 2026, while smaller cities have two years longer. Various municipalities in Germany already have such plans in place, and several federal states have corresponding regulations.
Speakers from the traffic light parties described the law on Friday as an important step in climate protection. The CDU/CSU expressed criticism. The timetables were too short and would overburden the municipalities. The AfD rejected the law and spoke of an "ideological heating turnaround".
The Federation of German Consumer Organizations welcomed the law as "an important step towards increasing the proportion of heat generated without fossil fuels". The German Renewable Energy Federation (BDEW) said that the law was a further building block "for the heat transition that has been overdue for years".
The Bundestag's recent legislation requires municipalities, including large cities by 2026 and smaller ones with an extension, to draw up heating plans. These plans, integral to the Building Energy Act, aim to promote climate-friendly heat sources such as geothermal, hydrogen, biomass, and waste heat from industries.
In adherence to these plans, homeowners in Germany will need to ensure their new heating systems are at least 65% powered by renewable energy, contributing to Germany's goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045.
Source: www.dpa.com
