Municipal heat planning in Germany: what your town’s plan means
Your municipality plans where district heating, hydrogen or individual systems make sense. Since 29 July 2026 that creates no duty for your own heating, only information.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
When your municipality must have a plan
Heat plan due by
30 June 2028
| Threshold | 100,000 residents on 1 Jan 2024 |
| Effect on your heating | no duty any more |
Since 29 July 2026 no heating duty depends on the heat plan.
Germany’s Heat Planning Act (Wärmeplanungsgesetz, WPG) requires the federal states to have a heat plan drawn up for every municipality. For municipalities with more than 100,000 residents on 1 January 2024 the deadline was 30 June 2026; for all others it runs until 30 June 2028 (section 4(2)). The plan divides the area into expected heat supply zones, for a heat network, hydrogen or individual systems. Under section 23 it has no external legal effect: nobody has to use a particular system because of it. Until 28 July 2026 the heat plan mattered all the same, because the start of the 65 % rule was tied to it. The Building Modernisation Act removed that link along with section 71. If you can connect to a heat network, the 458 grant covers it: an owner-occupier on €60,000 replacing an oil boiler receives €6,900 on connection costs of €15,000.
Deadlines by population
| Municipality on 1 January 2024 | Heat plan due by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| more than 100,000 residents | 30 June 2026 | larger cities |
| 100,000 or fewer | 30 June 2028 | all other municipalities |
| under 10,000 residents | 30 June 2028 | the state may allow a simplified procedure (s. 4(3)) |
| plan under state law already exists | remains valid | update to federal standard from 1 July 2030 at the latest (ss. 5, 25) |
Under section 4 WPG the duty falls on the federal states, not on residents. The states usually pass it on to the municipalities. Once finished, a plan must be reviewed at least every five years and updated where needed (section 25). What counts is the registered population on 1 January 2024, not today’s.
Your district heating price compared
District heating a year
€1,800
| Same heat from gas | €1,777 |
| From an air heat pump | €968 |
The 15 ct price is only a starting value: enter unit and standing charges from your bill.
What a heat plan contains
The planning body first looks at how buildings are heated today (stock analysis) and which local sources exist (potential analysis). From that it divides the area under section 18 into expected heat supply zones: heat network, hydrogen network, individual supply or zone under review, each for several dates up to the target year. The yardsticks are lifetime costs, risks, security of supply and greenhouse gases. The plan also names the steps the municipality intends to take. For an individual owner the result is a map showing which supply is foreseen for their street.
Two sentences of the act matter most. Under section 18(2), the zoning creates no duty to use or provide a particular type of supply. Under section 23(4), the plan as a whole has no external legal effect and creates no enforceable rights. A utility connection shown in the plan is therefore not an entitlement either.
Why the plan mattered so much until July 2026
In the 2024 Building Energy Act, section 71(8) set when the 65 % duty began for existing houses: in large cities after 30 June 2026, later moved to 31 October 2026, elsewhere after 30 June 2028, or one month after a zone was designated for a heat or hydrogen network (GEG 2024). That is why many owners, and many English-language guides for expats, treated the heat plan like a deadline. The act of 23 July 2026 deleted section 71 before the first deadline arrived. Today the heat plan is a planning basis for the municipality and information for owners, nothing more. What applies to new gas and oil boilers instead is under heating law.
What to look for in the plan
A heat plan is a long document of maps, tables and scenarios, in German. For your own heating decision four points usually suffice. First, how your block is zoned: heat network, hydrogen, individual supply or under review. Second, the year the zoning refers to, since the plan shows several dates up to the target year. Third, the implementation steps: a concrete network extension with a year and an operator makes a connection more likely than mere suitability. Fourth, whether the municipality has already designated the area under section 26 or adopted a compulsory connection bylaw. If none of this is there, there is little reason to put off a heat pump. Be careful with hydrogen zones: the plan describes a possibility, not a supplier or a price.
Designation and compulsory connection
Based on the plan, a municipality may designate plots for new or expanded heat networks or hydrogen networks under section 26. Under section 27 that decision also creates no duty to use a particular supply. A compulsory connection and use bylaw is different: municipalities can adopt one under state law, and section 109 of the GModG refers to it. That can genuinely require you to connect to a network. If your plot lies in such an area, KfW funds only the connection to that network under information sheet 458, not your own heat pump.
Heat network or your own system
If the plan shows your street as a heat network zone, ask the network operator whether and when they will build there and at what price. A connection is funded like a heat pump, with 30 % basic grant and the owner-occupier bonuses, €6,900 in the example above. There is no official average price for district heating, so the calculator on district heating prices uses your quote. The yearly comparison with gas and a heat pump is under heating costs compared. The grant for your application date is covered in the KfW 458 overview.