As part of the planned heating law, local authorities are to submit plans for converting the heating infrastructure. However, drawing up a heat plan takes time, requires more staff, and causes high costs. Many cities are still in the early stages.
Municipal heating planning is still at the starting block in many places. This is shown by a survey by the German Association of Cities. According to this, almost half (47 percent) of the 119 cities surveyed are currently in the coordination phase, in which the first steps are being explored. Another 18 percent of the cities are working on inventory analysis. This shows the survey from May, which is available to the dpa news agency.
Another 17 percent are in the process of drawing up the heat plan or developing the concept, and four percent are in the process of being implemented. Four percent of those surveyed have not even started yet.
The majority of cities have “long since started on their way to municipal heat planning,” said Helmut Dedy, general manager of the city association. “The cities analyze how high the heat demand is in the districts, where a strategic expansion of district heating and where a decentralized supply, for example using heat pumps, makes sense.”
Metropolises are ahead
A survey by the dpa had previously shown that the majority of municipalities are just starting when it comes to heat planning. Big cities like Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne are ahead. In some federal states, heat planning only starts when the federal government initiates it. With the Heat Planning Act, states and municipalities are to present concrete plans on how they want to convert their heating infrastructure to be climate-neutral.
The heat planning should show what options there are for district heating, for example. This should bring more options for switching to more climate-friendly heating systems. Citizens can then see whether their house could soon be connected to a heating network or whether they should rely on a heat pump.
Heat plan: High costs, more staff, a lot of time
The Building Energy Act, known as the “Heating Act”, is to be linked to municipal heat planning. In this way, owners should have all the information about the possible heating variants. Heat planning should be available in large cities from 2026 and for the remaining municipalities from 2028. Dedy spoke of an ambitious schedule.
“Drawing up a heating plan is a complex process and usually takes two to three years. That doesn’t come for free.” The process must be coordinated with many local actors.
According to the survey, more than two-thirds of the cities surveyed estimate the costs of drawing up the heating plan at up to 200,000 euros. The majority expect additional staffing needs of up to five positions, with larger cities tending to have more. Over a third have their personnel capacity for heat planning.
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36 percent of the cities stated that they had consulted external planning offices, and 45 percent still intend to do so. Dedy called for more financial aid for the cities. The start-up funding from the federal government with increased funding rates of 90 to 100 percent for municipal heating planning should be continued beyond the end of the year. “It is also important that pioneering municipalities that have already drawn up heating plans voluntarily or based on state regulations are not disadvantaged.” Finished heat plans would have to be recognized.
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