A look at present initiatives within district heating in Germany reveals an undeniable reality: the future of heating will be sustainable or it will not be.
This is especially true since the approval of Germany’s Building Energy Act (GEG), a normative that emerges to ensure the energy transition in heating is carried out by implementing specific milestones. One of the key clauses within this law establishes that, starting from 2024, every new heating system (both in new and existing buildings) will need to operate based on 65% of renewable energy sources.
This represents a significant leap towards the decarbonization of heating, considering that around 80% of residential buildings in Germany today rely on fossil fuels for heating, according to figures published by Energiewenge Direkt, the newsletter published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. In other words, major transformations are expected in the coming years in order to achieve the goal of decarbonising heat.
In this context, advanced district heating initiatives are expected to take center stage.
The current state of District Heating in Germany: an overview
An overview of heating systems in Germany provides perspective on the urgency of initiatives to decarbonise heating.
On the one hand, efforts are being intensified to move away from fossil fuels, a need that is pushed further to comply with obligations to European norms, including the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001.
When it comes to heating, Germany departs from a share of renewable energies at 14% of final energy demand in 2018, with fossil fuels leading in generation at 82% (45% natural gas, 27% hard coal and 10% lignite) (Triebs et al., 2021, citing AGFW sources).
In this context, governmental measures have become instrumental in triggering a new era of district heating in Germany. In fact, with the right approach and policies, this system is claimed to be capable of decarbonising around 20 million of the country’s 43 million households, according to Clean Energy Wire.
This is the context where the Germany’s Building Energy Act (GEG) has emerged, combined with the new Local Heat Planning Act (WPG), which (along with the 65% renewable energy requisite we’ve mentioned above) envision the following key moves in the roadmap for a transition:
- Existing systems that run on fossil fuels can continue operating until 2045
- Options and standard solutions for achieving 65% renewable energy include: connection to a sustainable heating grid; use of electric heat pumps or electric heaters; hybrid heating systems; solar thermal systems; or gas heating systems that can effectively incorporate 65% of certain types of biomass, biogas or hydrogen (green or blue).
The full scope of the norm has further implications and involves various parties: from building owners (including non-domestic buildings), to municipalities and network operators. However, one thing is for certain: it’s changing the shape of district heating in Germany.
District Heating in Berlin and other major cities
Figures published by E.ON provide data about district heating in Berlin and other major cities in Germany, with key findings being:
- District heating in Berlin already supplies 33% of residential buildings in the city
- Similar figures are true for Hamburg (36.2%) and Munich (36.5%)
- Within this percentage, Berlin exhibits a 4.3% share of environmentally-friendly heat pumps, followed by Hamburg (2%) and Munich (1.9%).
- When fossil fuels are used as a heat source, it still accounts for 37% of Berlin’s systems. Oil is present in 19.7% of household systems. For Hamburg, gas heating systems represent 36%, and 40.8% for Munich.
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Decarbonising District Heating in Germany: the possibilities
Why decarbonize heat?
Just like industrial decarbonisation, heat decarbonization represents a crucial movement to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.
In fact, Germany’s energy transition targets are ambitious and in line with global preoccupations around climate change, the country aims to reach net carbon neutrality by 2045.
Achieving climate-neutral heating for urban areas represents a major priority, considering energy use in buildings accounts for a third of Germany's overall primary energy consumption and around 40% of CO2 emissions, according to figures published by E.ON.
Key measures today to decarbonize heating
1. Achieving energy efficiency
Along with the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable, cleaner and efficient energy sources, initiatives for decarbonising heating must necessarily include measures for incorporating advanced energy-saving measures in buildings themselves.
This is precisely why the new normative efforts also include the requirement for new buildings to be “nearly zero-energy” through sustainable design initiatives.
2. The push for hydrogen as a new heat source
Germany is including the use of hydrogen as a sustainable, climate-neutral energy source, including not only green hydrogen but also other alternatives (such as blue hydrogen), provided they meet specific production criteria.
3. Developing circular economy models
Legislation around district heating in Germany also promotes the incorporation of circular models to new and existing heating systems. In this context, initiatives such as TES tanks for thermal energy storage or projects that incorporate urban wastewater heat recovery and the reuse of waste heat are expected to be increasingly important.
4. Industrial heat pumps
Industrial heat pumps represent one of the key technologies that are facilitating the transition towards decarbonized heat.
Their potential lies on two crucial characteristics: they are an extremely energy-efficient piece of equipment (reaching COP efficiencies of between 3 to 6 units); they are versatile and capable of incorporating sustainable, local heat sources. Both of these benefits, along with other advantages, intersect to make industrial heat pumps a viable, cost-efficient alternative for district heating in Germany.
The future for heat and hydrogen in Germany: plans and initiatives
As we’ve seen throughout the article, decarbonising heat stands at the heart of the present and future initiatives regarding district heating in Germany.
We’ve described a number of options that, today, stand as the most promising alternatives to fossil fuels. However, the factual technologies that are finally implemented will likely depend on their cost-efficiency for both operators and consumers, considering heating represents not only a matter of sustainability but also an important expenditure.
This is where the norm’s flexibility to adopt different strategies will prove to be most useful, and the case for hydrogen-based heat provides an illustrative example.
Harnessing green hydrogen for heating has been advanced as a sustainable alternative in recent years. In this arena, moving away from a conventional approach to burning hydrogen gas, the following circular model represents an exciting option: using waste heat produced by hydrogen electrolysis in district energy initiatives.
However, and while this presents a promising possibility, hydrogen electrolysis is today still far from being the main production method, so that the vast majority of hydrogen is still produced thanks to hydrocarbons (either biomass or fossil fuel).
In this context, district heating in Germany is more likely to opt for other heat sources through the incorporation of sustainable, cost-efficient equipment such as industrial heat pumps.
This aligns with figures such as those published by the ICCT, which describe heat pumps as “the most cost-effective residential heating technology” and with “at least 40% lower cost than the hydrogen-only technologies”.
At Araner, we’re committed to advancing heat decarbonization by helping organizations looking to transform the landscape of district heating in Germany towards a greener future.
Putting our ground-breaking heating engineering expertise to work, our district heating solutions represent a leading initiative for projects that address sustainability up front and seek the right initiatives to fit their needs.
Get in touch with us and speak to our team about how we can help you.
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