Germany wants to phase out fossil fuel heating. What does the new law say?
Jan Rosenow
Energy transition optimist │ Vice President at Regulatory Assistance Project │ Research Associate at Oxford and Cambridge Universities │ Board Member │ LinkedIn Top Voice │ FEI │ FRSA
The new German draft law to phase out fossil fuel heating has made international headlines lately and when I shared it on LinkedIn and Twitter it went viral. But what does the new law actually say? Let me explain.
More than 80% of heating in Germany is still met by burning fossil fuels. Natural gas dominates in the building heat sector with almost half of all households using it to keep warm. Heating is the biggest fossil gas end use sector: More than 40% of fossil gas consumed in Germany is for heating buildings.
At the same time Germany has ambitious climate targets: The greenhouse gas reduction target for the year 2030 is a reduction of 65% compared to 1990. By 2040, greenhouse gases must be reduced by 88% and greenhouse gas neutrality must be achieved by 2045. Because of the long lifetimes of heating systems, the logic of the new policy is that new fossil fuel heating systems cannot be installed after 01 January 2024. This will limit the need to replace existing and functioning heating systems closer to the target dates and allows for a gradual switch-over at the point at which heating systems reach the end of their technical lifetime.
What does the draft law say specifically?
Before I dive into the detail it is important to understand that right now this is a draft law which still has to be approved by the German Parliament and the Federal Council (consisting of representatives of the federated states). Aspects of the law may well change as a result.
The draft law foresees that from 01 January 2024 only heating systems that run on at least 65% renewable energy can be installed. It applies to all buildings unless exempted under specific conditions explained further below in this article.
In most new buildings heat pumps have already become the default heating technology although during the first half of 2022 in 16% of new buildings gas heating systems were still being installed. This will end from 01 January 2024 and the vast majority of new buildings will have heat pumps.
It is in existing buildings where the impact of the new law will be most visible. In 2022 about 2/3 of all heating systems sold in Germany were fossil fuel systems, mainly gas. The majority of new heating system installs takes place in existing buildings. From 01 January 2024 when an old heating system comes to the end of its technical life, breaks down and cannot be repaired, it will no longer be possible to replace it with another fossil fuel heating system unless very specific exemptions are being met (see below).
This does not mean that fossil fuel heating systems will be completely taken off the market, as hybrid systems are allowed under the draft law, as long as they comply with the 65% rule, and under certain conditions fossil fuel heating systems will still be allowed for a limited time period.
Which heating systems will qualify for the 65% rule?
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Are there exemptions?
There are a number of exemptions which I summarise here.
After an existing heating system breaks down and cannot be repaired it is possible to replace it with a fossil fuel heating system if within 3 years after breakdown the 65% rule is complied with, for example by adding a heat pump either as a stand-alone or hybrid system.
Where a connection to a district heating is expected to be possible in the future it is allowed to replace an existing fossil fuel heating system with another fossil fuel heating system if the building is connected to district heating within 10 years and by 31 January 2034 at the latest.
There are further exemptions for buildings inhabited by old people, individual heating systems in apartment blocks and significant hardship cases.
What does all of this mean?
?Whilst a complex piece of legislation with many specific exemptions for non-standard use cases the overall conclusion I draw is that this will cause a massive shift in the German heating market towards heat pumps.
The graph below was taken from underlying modelling for the German government and confirms this view. It shows that new heating systems installed will be mainly heat pumps and district heating connections with no role for hydrogen.
The government is currently working on a support package to enable households and businesses to comply with the new rules. The law has yet to pass through Parliament and the Federal Council. Given its high profile in the media - the heat law was covered extensively by the German media - and the opposition against it I would expect that further amendments are likely.
A lot more work is to be done and delivering this is not going to be easy. Doing this takes a lot of political courage. It is a huge transformation in a short period of time. But ultimately this is what climate targets require if we take them seriously.
Strategic Advisor for Energy Transition
1 年Dr Jan Rosenow thanks for the helpful summary. I hope that the UK government takes note
Researcher at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague
1 年Thank you for the summary, very helpful. I wonder what is your take on the complementarity with renovation needs? We have seen in Czechia that in many cases the heat pumps are installed in a non-renovated house, therefore possibly overdimensioned and not working optimally. I wonder how the "one-sided" ban may affect this? I.e. possibly people installing non-optimally designed heating systems?
Senior Consultant specialising in UK electricity and gas networks
1 年Tessa Clark Robin Kaloustian
Head of District Heating Network Planning and Design | District Energy
1 年Thanks for sharing. I think this would be really challenging for the district heating sector, if they would have to achieve at list 50% renewable or waste heat by the end of 2029. Euroheat & Power