Draft of Heat Plan­ning Act: Sto­rage as a fourth pil­lar in the hea­ting infra­struc­ture as well

On August 16, 2023, the Ger­man govern­ment pas­sed the draft law for heat plan­ning and the decar­bo­niza­tion of heat grids. A mile­stone was rea­ched with the clear defi­ni­tion of heat sto­rage sys­tems, which was included in the law on the advice of BVES (§3 No. 22). This marks a signi­fi­cant step for­ward for fle­xi­bi­lity of sup­ply by finally reco­gni­zing the full poten­tial of energy sto­rage for the heat infra­struc­ture.

Addi­tio­nally, energy that comes from a rene­wa­ble source heat sto­rage sys­tem has been reco­gni­zed as a rene­wa­ble form of energy. This inno­va­tion faci­li­ta­tes the seam­less inte­gra­tion of rene­wa­ble energy into hea­ting net­works.

After the first refer­ral in the Bun­des­rat on Sep­tem­ber 29, 2023, the Bun­des­tag will debate the law. Entry into force is plan­ned for Janu­ary 1, 2024, coin­ci­ding with the Buil­ding Energy Act.

Despite this pro­gress, some issues of con­cern remain: The cur­rent wor­ding does not ade­qua­tely reflect the broad poten­tial of energy sto­rage faci­li­ties. Energy sto­rage can absorb and release energy in many forms, inclu­ding heat or elec­tri­city. One varia­tion is sto­ring heat and re-injec­ting it as heat into the elec­tri­city grid, enab­ling sec­tor cou­pling.

Alig­ning the Heat Plan­ning Law (WPG) with the Buil­ding Energy Law (GEG), offe­ring a speed bonus not only for heat pumps but also for the pre­pa­ra­tion of heat plans, could fur­ther opti­mize the trans­for­ma­tion. This would enable the attrac­tive oppor­tu­ni­ties for sup­p­ly­ing both house­holds and indus­try and com­merce through regio­nal hea­ting net­works with rene­wa­ble energy gene­ra­tion to more quickly find their way to prac­tice.