The heating law is in motion. The responsible Bundestag committee listens to 14 experts who warn of all sorts of weaknesses and pitfalls. After a lot of criticism of the timing of the hearing, this could subsequently prove to be one of the most influential expert surveys ever.
Meetings of Bundestag committees usually take place away from public attention, even those held in public. It is different this Wednesday, when the Committee for Climate Protection and Energy is hearing 14 experts and representatives of professional associations on the planned heating law (GEG) of the traffic light coalition. The appointment is under massive fire in the run-up: the guests are being heard on a draft law that the Federal Cabinet passed in April. However, last week the top representatives of the governing coalition passed a guideline paper that will entail extensive changes to the draft law.
“We are talking about a draft law that is to be substantially revised, and there is a two-page agreement paper with guidelines for what is new, but no legal text that we would like to comment on,” complains Ingbert Liebing, the association’s general manager Municipal company (VKU), as one of the experts. Two hours later, the chairman of the committee, left-wing politician Klaus Ernst, can see something positive from this fact: The experts and women would experience a “rare case,” predicts Ernst. “You will probably notice that your proposals are included in the legislation very extensively, because the law is such that they are not quite ready yet,” he scoffs at the disagreement between the traffic light parties on the subject of heat transition.
In fact, numerous detailed questions are still unresolved, even if the law is to be passed by the beginning of July. It is striking that the experts invited received more praise than criticism for the changes made to the guard rail paper. Only the German Environmental Aid (DUH) complains about a “capitulation to climate protection in the building sector”, for example because households are allowed to install fossil heating systems beyond 2024 or because the possibility of installing pellet heating systems is expanded compared to the previous draft law. The invited experts report amendments to the law in the following subject areas:
Municipal heat planning
The agreed linking of the ban on new gas heating systems to the existence of municipal heating planning met with a lot of praise – apart from the DUH and the experts invited by the AfD. “We rate the time horizon for drawing up heating plans across the board by 2028 as realistic,” says Christine Wilcken from the German Association of Cities. VKU Managing Director Liebing says he would have preferred it if the law on municipal heating planning had come at the same time as the GEG and not after the summer. So the GEG may have to be improved in the fall.
When Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz answered the questions of the members of the Bundestag in the afternoon, it became clear that municipal heating planning would be complicated. So far, it was actually intended to exempt municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants from the obligation. The legislature “cannot make the same legal requirements for small municipalities,” says Geywitz. But if the planned exemption from the ban on installing new gas heating systems only applies to municipalities where there is no heating plan, there is a risk of a significant gap. During question time with Geywitz and Habeck, CDU politician Andreas Jung pointed out that out of 11,000 municipalities, 9,000 had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. The coalition factions and the ministries will have to think about something – and very quickly.
district heating
The focus on district heating, especially in urban areas, is generally well received. However, Thomas Engelke from the Federal Consumer Association (VZBV) warns that more transparency is needed. District heating is a monopoly market with sometimes very large price fluctuations. Engelke calls for “national price supervision and elements of competition”. An obligation to use district heating is also prohibited. Also controversial is the easing agreed in the guard rails for the conversion of district heating to renewable energies, which are currently still more than 80 percent generated from gas and coal. From the point of view of environmental aid, the climate goals are a long way off. The municipal companies disagree: the expansion and conversion of the district heating network cannot be tackled at the same time, which is why it is right to push the expansion first. Sandra Rostek from the Federal Association of Renewable Energies (BEE), on the other hand, calls for 50 percent of district heating to be generated from renewable sources by 2030 and 65 percent by 2035.
hydrogen
The extended opening of the heating law for green hydrogen is met with criticism from several associations – in particular from the representatives of environmental associations, renewable technologies, tenants and consumers. Sandra Rostek from the Federal Association of Renewable Energies (BEE) speaks of a “fata morgana”. Green hydrogen will remain a marginal phenomenon in the heat economy. The President of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), Kerstin Andreae, sees things differently: In the future, many hybrid heating systems will be used, i.e. heat pumps that switch on gas heating systems when it is very cold. Biogas would also be needed for these scenarios, Andreae points out. In addition, hydrogen will play a major role in future combined heat and power generation. From the point of view of the consumer association, people are threatened with a “cost trap” with the promise that hydrogen will soon be available for heating. There is a scientific consensus that green hydrogen will remain rare and expensive for the next two decades.
Pellet heating and biomass
Andreae from the BDEW praises the subsequently agreed loosening of heat from biomass and wood. “Biomass can be used if it is sustainable,” she says, referring to the recycling of locally generated waste. Sandra Rostek warns against “excessive” requirements for biomass and pellet heating systems, for example with filter systems. There is enough wood available. Currently, 20 percent of the pellets produced in Germany are exported. In the future, even more wood will be used in Germany, with 40 percent of the processed wood not being used but being burned, says Rostek.
Later in the Bundestag, Economics Minister Habeck admitted that he would have preferred to see less funding for wood heating systems. It was important to him that the GEG “think about emissions, particulate matter and the protection of natural resources,” says Habeck. “Wood is a scarce commodity,” but his ideas “didn’t survive the deliberations.” In the hearing, only the environmental aid organization shared Habeck’s view of the environmental damage caused by pellet heating systems.
promotions
“The federal government’s funding concept still falls short. It needs funding, depending on income even up to full funding,” warns Thomas Engelke from the Federal Consumer Association (VZBV). In addition, people with low incomes should also have access to promotional loans. Habeck announced in Parliament that the funding instruments would either be determined by the Bundestag as part of the GEG agreement or else his ministry would adapt the BEG law (Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings) accordingly. She sees “a lot of homework,” especially when it comes to funding, says Lamia Messari-Becker, Professor of Building Technology and Building Physics. “It’s going to be expensive, it’s going to be tough,” she says, summing up the heat transition. Every euro must be used all the more efficiently.
consultations
The representatives of the German Tenants’ Association and the Berlin Tenants’ Association are calling for advice to be made mandatory, especially for landlords. Otherwise, they should not be allowed to pass the costs on to their tenants, since they may have bought the more expensive technical option without needing it. The representative of the city council also advocates an obligation to provide advice: “There can be no right to hydrogen,” says Wilcken, with a view to the possibility of installing hydrogen-ready gas heating systems. Consumers would have to be informed whether a hydrogen connection would actually come. Helmut Bramann, General Manager of the Central Association for Sanitary, Heating and Air Conditioning, can live with the obligation to provide advice. In return, however, “a kind of public database” is needed, from which the heat planning of the municipalities and their current status emerged. Lamia Messari-Becker, Professor of Building Technology and Building Physics at the University of Siegen, also calls for certified specialist consultants – if possible not through the respective seller of the new heating system.
Costs for tenants
Sebastian Bartels from the Berlin Tenants’ Association warns, among other things, that landlords are not always allowed to pass on the replacement of a heating system as a modernization surcharge. If defective or old heaters are replaced, this must be considered maintenance management according to a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice. Bartels therefore proposes that landlords in such cases have to bear two-thirds of their costs themselves and are only allowed to apportion one-third. The President of the German Tenants’ Association, Lukas Siebenkotten, also criticized the planned new modernization levy. This is only acceptable if both surcharges are capped at 3 euros and the surcharge is limited to the period until the investment costs are amortized. Bartels from the Berlin Tenants’ Association is calling for the modernization levy to be reduced from 8 to 4 percent of the monthly rent.
Costs for landlords
In addition to the municipalities, it is above all homeowners and landlords who have to shoulder the investments behind the heat transition. Kai Warnecke, President of the Haus und Grund association, complains that the owners have so far been “included in the legislative process in a rather fig leaf-like manner”. Among the members of the association there is “simply desperation” in view of the immense costs for new heating systems. Warnecke firmly rejects a limitation of the cost allocation to the tenants up to the amortization limit. He also urges clarity about federal funding. After all, representatives of tenants and landlords agree on this. Tenant Association President Siebenkotten also demands that landlords must call for subsidies before they can pass on the remaining costs to the tenants.