Germany economy minister warns against rolling back contentious heating law
Rheinische Post
Ahead of Germany's snap elections, economy minister Robert Habeck (Green Party) has warned that overturning a law aimed at reducing stubbornly high heating emissions would be "fatal", reported Rheinische Post.
The Building Energy Act (GEG), sometimes called the heating law, requires heating systems installed in new buildings in new residential areas to use at least 65 percent renewable energy (new buildings outside new residential areas can install conventional heaters still for a transitional period). Passed by the Green Party, centre-left SDP and pro-business FDP coalition, it came into effect in January 2024 after much contentious debate largely centred around the higher cost of climate-friendly systems like heat pumps.
The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the FDP have taken aim at the law in their election manifestos, saying they would overturn it, wrote Rheinische Post. The CDU wrote that it wants to instead promote "low-emissions heating solutions open to all technologies”, and that it would rely on emissions trading, which will make heating with oil or gas more expensive as CO2 prices rise. The newspaper noted that the CDU remained vague on the details of its plans.
Alluding to the CDU manifesto, Habeck – who is also the Green Party's chancellor candidate – told Rheinische Post that relying solely on rising CO2 prices to help phase out fossil fuel heaters would ultimately make heating more expensive for citizens. "Switching to climate-friendly heating will save citizens money in the long-term," said Habeck, adding that state support is available for making the switch. Depending on household income, state subsidies can cover up to 70 percent of the cost of a new climate-friendly heating system, wrote Rheinische Post.
Germany aims to phase out fossil fuels in heating to help bring down emissions in the buildings sector. While climate-friendly heating technologies are now most common in new buildings, the country’s existing buildings continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels. EU rules require member states to decarbonise their heating systems.
In 2024, heat pump sales in Germany dropped by nearly half due to uncertainties around the contentious law, municipal heat planning and a lack of public knowledge about support programmes, according to the German Heat Pump Association (BWP). But BWP stated that it was confident of stronger growth this year, adding in the Rheinische Post that CDU plans to overturn the heating law should not cause "new confusion".