German Renewable energies heat act
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Posting Date | 9 December 2011Publication Date | 2008
Country | Germany
Geographic Coverage | National
Target Group | Local/regional/national authorities and facilitators, Building professionals, Building occupants
Type of publication | Legal document
Publisher | Bundestag
Number pages | 18
Submitted by Marianna Papaglastra (Sympraxis Team)
Source Languages | German
German Renewable energies heat act
In addition to the requirements of the Energy Saving Ordinance, requirements from the Renewable Energies Heat Act ("Gesetz zur Förderung erneuerbarer Energien im Wärmebereich (Erneuerbare-Energien-Wärmegesetz - EEWärmeG)") have to be complied with for new buildings since 1 January 2009. This results in numerous reciprocal effects in the verification and the respective acquittal. In particular the partial usage of renewable energies demanded by the Renewable Energies Heat Act can have a major impact on the primary energy demand according to the Energy Saving Ordinance 2009. The Renewable Energies Heat Act lies within the responsibility of the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and is executed in many federal states by the environmental authorities. The BMU offers documents and information concerning the renewable Energies Heat Act on a special internet platform.
The new Renewable Energies Heat Act entered into force on 1 January 2009. It stipulates that owners of new buildings must cover part of their heat supply with renewable energies. This applies to residential and non-residential buildings for which a building application or construction notification was submitted after 1 January 2009.
The owner is free to choose which source of renewable energies is used. A certain technology-specific percentage of heat, dependent on the type of energy employed, has to be used. A list of FAQ can be found here (only available in German language).
The Heat Act has been amended. The amendments arose from the "Act Implementing European Renewable Energies Legislation" (implementing Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources) and came into force on May 1st 2011.
The obligation to use a share of renewable heat or cold, so far only applied to new buildings, is now extended to existing public buildings undergoing major renovations. The public sector has to fulfill an exemplary role in using renewable energy sources for heat and cold. This applies to public buildings being the property or in the possession of the public sector, and being used for legislative or executive purposes, for purposes of the administration of justice or as a public facility. The exemplary role has to be ensured as well where buildings are rented or leased.
The law was drawn up with the objective that every owner of a building should be able to find an individually tailored, cost-effective solution. Accompanying the legal obligation for new buildings, the German government continues its comprehensive support programme, the market incentive programme for renewable energies in the heat market (solar, biomass, geothermal installations), to supplement the Act. It assists building owners of existing buildings in getting a start on heat or cold from renewable energies, providing either capital grants for smaller installations or low-interest loans and redemption grants for larger installations or infrastructures like heat networks or large heat storages.
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