German municipal heat planning implementation

German municipalities are finalizing and implementing municipal heat planning (KWP) to facilitate the transition toward climate-neutral and affordable local heat supplies.

In Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, the city council approved a plan noting a heavy reliance on natural gas and a significant opportunity for industrial waste heat, which accounts for 49 percent of the city’s heat consumption. Other municipalities, such as Emtmannsberg and Kirchenpingarten, have also completed their planning processes to provide transparent development paths for future heat supply.

Further progress is seen in Cologne, where the city council approved its first strategic heat plan to identify renewable energy and waste heat potential. This initiative includes mobile advisory services to assist residents, as approximately 85 percent of Cologne’s buildings currently rely on fossil fuels. Meanwhile, in Gera, a first draft of a municipal heat plan has been released for public review, outlining a strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 through a combination of district heating networks and decentralized solutions.