End of June 2026 marked the deadline for large cities to develop a municipal heating plan (KWP). These heating plans thus provide, for the first time, a comprehensive vision for heat supply. The analysis “From Heating Plans to the Heating Transition – What Municipal Heat Planning Achieves in Large Cities and Where It Reaches Its Limits” evaluates the implementation strategies of all 57 published major city heat plans, assesses the limitations of the tool, and discusses options for action both within and outside the scope of the Heat Planning Act.
All 57 plans call for monitoring progress and retrofitting municipal properties; 50 aim to incorporate heating planning into urban land-use planning; and 45 call for transformation plans for existing heating networks. The plans are most concrete where municipalities take action themselves: in their own buildings, within the administration, and in advisory services. So far, only a few cities – such as Hanover – have implemented binding measures, such as mandatory connection to and use of heating networks.
Within the context of heating planning, the analysis identifies four options for improvement: standardized corridors for scenario assumptions, better access to data, network cost metrics for economic feasibility comparisons, and integration with the gas network operators’ future distribution network development plans. This makes the regional division more robust but not binding. Instead, instruments outside the scope of the Heat Planning Act may be considered: municipal ordinances to ensure demand for heating networks, provisions in zoning plans, state-level requirements regarding heating system selection, and targeted support for flexibility and retrofitting.
