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Municipal heat planning
Strategic approach for local heat planning
The heating sector is considered to be the “sleeping giant” of the energy transition. The provision of hot water, space, and process heat together accounts for around half of the required final energy. However, compared to the electricity sector, progress in the heating sector has been slow thus far – due to the long investment cycles for structural and technical measures in the heating infrastructure, the necessary heat transition has been sluggish. But the need for action in the heating sector is enormous, as the effects of today’s decisions will reach far into the future.

The goal is a greenhouse gas-neutral heat supply for municipalities
With the revision of the Municipal Guideline, which has been in force since November 1, 2022, municipalities are now receiving support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in creating a basis for a greenhouse gas-neutral municipal heat supply.
The goal here is to bring about the heat transition, which aims to reduce energy consumption in the heating sector and to use renewable energy to cover the remaining heat demand. Even if the conversion of the heat supply represents a major feat from a financial and organizational point of view, the advantages are obvious: Active climate protection, regional and local value creation, and a cost-effective, future-proof heat supply afford a better quality of life and secure a region’s attractiveness for the future.
The instruments of heat planning
Financing
Federal and state subsidies, municipal incentive programs
Planning and organization
Heat map, human resources planning and organization
Legal matters
Regulations, e.g. from development plan and land use plan
Communication and information
Public relations of the municipality
Cooperation and participation
Establishment of climate protection networks, involvement of local stakeholders (public utilities, energy suppliers, etc.)
Technologies
Renewable energy systems, energy storage, waste heat utilization, etc.
Steps in the municipal heat planning process
The basis for successful heat planning is, first of all, a comprehensive inventory of the existing heat supply, the local stakeholder landscape, and the potential for energy savings and renewable energy. Only if the local conditions are carefully recorded can individual objectives and locally coordinated solutions be developed on this basis. These are ultimately brought together to form an overall municipal heat transition strategy that gives the municipality a foundation and guidepost for a process of continuous development towards a climate-neutral heat supply.
Our services
- Support with process organization
- Inventory of the municipal heating infrastructure, heat sources and sinks, and the potential afforded by waste heat
- Analysis of the local stakeholder landscape
- Demand and potential analysis
- Design of a continuous participation process for all relevant local stakeholders
- Description of target scenarios and options for action
- Definition of priority areas for various heat supply solutions (heating networks/decentralized supply)
- Development of implementation plans for specific priority areas
- Definition of a transformation path and preparation of a catalog of measures
- Municipal heat transition strategy with a timetable and implementation plan as well as a controlling concept
- Support with the integration of the heat transition strategy into other specialist planning processes
- Implementation support
Your benefits
When you work with energielenker, you can be sure of having an experienced project partner at your side. We have brought over 15 municipal heat planning projects to their successful completion over the past three years.
- Fulfillment of NKI funding requirements
- Implementation-oriented municipal heat planning
- Exploitation of local synergies
- Development of a stakeholder network
- Support with strategic planning and decision-making for work in local energy policy
- Local value creation and increased attractiveness of the region
Sigrid Kopitz