How can heating and hot water preparation become climate-neutral by 2045? According to the will of the Federal Government, district heating should play an important role in this. About one in seven apartments in Germany is already heated with district heating.

What is district heating anyway?

District heating is heat that is not generated in the home, but comes from a power or heating plant in the area. Most often, water is heated there, which is then fed through insulated pipes to the customers. Once in the home, hospital or office building, the energy is transferred to the building's heating circuit in a transfer station, where it provides room heating and hot water. This means that the buildings do not need their own heating system.

How is the heat generated in the power plants?

According to the district heating association AGFW, this is currently mainly due to the combustion of natural gas and coal, mostly in so-called combined heat and power, in which electricity is generated in addition to the heat. Around 70 percent of the energy comes from fossil fuels. The remaining 30 percent is accounted for by heat from the incineration of waste or biomass (wood chips), as well as from geothermal energy and other renewable sources.

How many district heating networks are there in Germany?

According to the district heating association AGFW, just under 3800. They are operated by around 500 companies. In 2020, the total length of the route was over 31,000 kilometres. According to the energy industry association BDEW, 2022.14 percent of the 2.43 million apartments in Germany were heated with district heating in 1, which is about one in seven apartments. The proportion has risen steadily over the past 20 years. In 2003, it was 12.4 percent.

How climate-friendly is district heating?

This varies greatly depending on the energy source, the efficiency of generation in the power plant and the level of line losses, says the consumer advice center. "The use of combined heat and power generation has a high energy yield, and the use of waste heat, which is generated, for example, during waste incineration, also makes sense."

Can households change their district heating provider, as is the case with electricity?

No. "In the case of district heating, it is not possible to change the heat supplier," explains the consumer advice center. The planning and operation of the power plant and the grid would be in the hands of one company. The construction of a duplicate infrastructure by another company is uneconomical. "Therefore, every district heating company is a local monopolist." The consumer advocates point out that municipalities provide for a connection and use obligation for some properties. "As an owner, you are then forced to supply your house with district heating." The legal basis for the use of district heating is bundled in a separate ordinance.

When is district heating suitable?

According to the consumer advice centre, district heating pays off when as many users as possible are connected to the heating network. "This is because the relocation of the grids and the construction of the generation plants are usually associated with considerable costs." District heating is therefore particularly suitable in densely populated (new) areas.

How does the Federal Government assess district heating?

As very important. In the recently announced first draft law for municipal heat planning, the Federal Ministry of Construction states: "The expansion of district heating and the decarbonisation of grid-based heat supply are of outstanding importance for achieving the federal government's climate protection goals." In recent years, the necessary investments have not been made to the required extent. The expansion is to be laid down in the law: "Heating networks are to be significantly expanded in order to achieve the most economically cost-efficient climate-neutral heat supply possible and the number of buildings connected to heating networks is to be significantly and dynamically increased," the draft bill states.

In the planned Building Energy Act, the so-called Heating Act, specifications for heating networks are also planned. For example, there should be an obligation to use at least 2030 percent renewable heat or waste heat in existing heating networks by 50. For new heating networks, a share of 65 percent is to be required.

What does the industry think of an expansion?

Under certain conditions, it believes that by 2050 there will be three times as many heating network connections as are possible today. While 6 million of the 43 million apartments are currently heated with district heating, this figure could rise to 18 to 20 million in the future, especially in apartment buildings in cities and densely populated areas. "District heating is the key to the topic of climate-neutral cities in Germany," says John Miller, deputy managing director of the AGFW trade association.

The association criticises the timetable provided for in the Building Energy Act to convert existing heating networks to at least 2030 percent renewable heat or waste heat by 50. The association is calling for longer transitional periods and significantly more funding, especially for the "Federal Funding for Efficient Heating Networks" (BEW) program.