Municipal heat planning

With the help of municipal heat planning, municipalities can plan a climate-neutral, cost-effective and secure local heat supply. Municipalities plan where energy can be saved and which renewable energy sources can be used locally for the heat supply, with the involvement of the public and other stakeholders. In future, for example, buildings could be supplied with heat from decarbonised district heating or heat pumps.

This planning instrument creates planning security for building owners, tenants and Companies, for example, as they can use the heating plans to better assess which heating technology to invest in.

Components of a municipal heating plan include a suitability test, an inventory analysis, a potential analysis and a climate-neutral target scenario:

  • In the suitability test, the municipality is divided into so-called suitability areas, where it is determined which type of heat supply is likely to be most suitable for an area (e.g. heat from heating networks or through the installation of heat pumps).
  • The inventory analysis determines the current and future heat demand in the municipalities. The inventory analysis also provides information about the current heat supply.
  • The potential analysis, on the other hand, identifies ways in which the heat demand can be reduced and, for example, covered with the help of renewable energies.
  • The local authorities use these results to draw up heating plans in which they describe future heating requirements and the heat supply based on these.

You can find more information on the development of municipal heat planning on the website of the 
Competence Centre for the Municipal Heat Transition (KWW).

What is the purpose of municipal heat planning?

The State of Hesse aims to cover 100 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2045 at the latest. The heating sector is an important component of this. In simple terms, the heating sector covers the heating of buildings and their hot water supply and is responsible for around 30 per cent of final energy consumption in Hesse. Due to the fact that a large proportion of this heat has so far come from fossil fuels such as crude oil or natural gas, a great deal of climate-damaging emissions are produced through their combustion. These must be reduced in order to slow down climate change. The goals in the heating sector are to significantly reduce the demand for heating and to use renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, water and geothermal energy instead of fossil fuels. Municipal heat planning should help to plan and implement this in a good and structured way.

Which laws apply to municipal heat planning?

The obligation for municipal heat planning in Hesse is regulated by the Hessian Energy Act (HEG) on the one hand and the nationwide Heat Planning Act (WPG) on the other.

As early as 2022, the Hessian state parliament decided that municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants will be obliged to draw up municipal heating plans from 29 November 2023. This law currently affects 59 municipalities in Hesse.
On 1 January 2024, the WPG of Germany came into force, which obliges the federal states to ensure that heat plans are drawn up in larger municipalities (with more than 100,000 inhabitants) by 30 June 2026 and in smaller municipalities (no more than 100,000 inhabitants) by 30 June 2028. In Hessian municipalities with a maximum of 20,000 inhabitants, heating plans will therefore also have to be drawn up in future.

Where can I get more information?

For citizens:

Further general information and answers to frequently asked questions about municipal heat planning can be found on the website of the 
LandesEnergieAgentur Hesse (LEA) and the 
Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building.
If you have further questions about municipal heat planning or would like to find out the current status of municipal heat planning in your municipality, please contact your local authority.

For local authorities and companies:

The LEA supports and advises municipalities on municipal heat planning. Various offers and information are already available on the LEA website for 
municipal heat planning. The LEA also regularly provides information on new developments, events, training programmes and exchange formats relating to the topic of municipal heat planning through the Municipal Heat Planning Network. If you would like to become a member of this network, please contact waermeplanung@lea-hessen.de .