From 2024, at least 65 percent of every newly installed heating system is to be powered by renewable energies. Failure to comply can result in heavy penalties.
Bremen – The German government wants to put oil and gas heating systems to the collar. From 2024, these may still be installed, but must meet some requirements. Failure to comply with these rules can result in severe fines.
Oil and gas heating systems: Amendment to Habeck's Building Energy Act sets high penalties in some cases
The regulations laid down in an amendment to the Building Energy Act (as of 16 May 2023) are intended to ensure that fossil-fuelled heating systems will no longer be used by 2045 at the latest. Anyone who does not comply with Habeck's heating law will face fines of up to 50,000 euros in the future. The provisions on fines are laid down in Section 108 of the Act on Energy Saving and the Use of Renewable Energies for Heating and Cooling in Buildings, i.e. the Building Energy Act (GEG).
Anyone who does not comply with the provisions of Habeck's law must expect penalties. © Christian Ohde/Imago (symbolic image)
Households that try to circumvent the laws on heating system replacement must expect penalties. The Federal Government's draft law states that the maximum fines previously regulated in Section 108 GEG will not be changed by the amendment. One of the few changes was made to the medium fine range – the fine to be paid was reduced from 15,000 to 10,000 euros. "The specific amount of the fine to be imposed is based on the significance of the injustice," the federal government said. In addition to oil and gas heating systems, wood-burning stoves could soon be under attack.
| Respites | Amendment to the Building Energy Act |
| From 2024 | 65 percent of newly installed heating systems must be powered by renewable energies. Existing heating systems are not affected. |
| From 2045 | Fossil fuels may no longer be used in heating systems. |
Oil and gas heating systems on the verge of extinction: These fines threaten in the event of non-compliance with the Building Energy Act
Some offences punishable by a fine of 5000 euros have been added to paragraph 108 GEG – with a focus on heat pumps. As the amendment goes on to say, the fine is not only intended to skim off the advantage derived from the act, but also to exceed the economic advantage of the act. Among other things, 5000 euros must therefore be paid if a heat pump is not subjected to a tax audit or is not subjected to it in time. Facts for which 10,000 or even 50,000 euros are due were not newly added to the Building Energy Act with the amendment.
According to the amendment, a fine of 5000 euros must be paid by those who:
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- If a heat pump is not subject to an operational inspection or does not do so in time, it is not subject to an operational inspection
- Failure to carry out an optimisation measure of the heat pump or not to carry it out in time
- A heating system is not subjected to a heating inspection or is not carried out in time
- A heating system does not hydraulically balance or does not do so in time
- A circulating pump or a drinking water circulation pump is not replaced or not replaced in time
- A heating system is not installed correctly, is not set up correctly or does not operate properly
- A heating system is not equipped, is not equipped correctly or is not equipped in time
- Does not equip a non-residential building, does not equip it properly or does not equip it in time
- does not provide a confirmation, does not provide it correctly, does not provide it completely or does not provide it on time
- Installing or installing direct electricity heating
- does not ensure that at least 65 percent of the heat provided by the plant is generated from the fuels specified therein [§ 71f (1) sentence 1]
- does not equip a heating system, does not equip it correctly or does not equip it in time, or does not combine it correctly or in time with a system mentioned therein
- does not ensure that the solid biomass is used in an automatically fed biomass stove with water as a heat transfer medium or a biomass boiler and that only biomass specified therein is used
- Installs or installs or operates a heat pump hybrid heating system
- Natural gas uses
Habeck's law on gas and oil from 2024 – In the future, there is a threat of severe heating penalties
How many households have to convert as quickly as possible and otherwise expect fines? As the German government writes, "more than 80 percent of the heat demand is still covered by the combustion of fossil fuels." More than 40 percent of the natural gas consumed in Germany is used to heat buildings and supply them with hot water. Almost every second household in Germany still heats with natural gas, followed by heating with heating oil for almost 25 percent of households. Only around 14 percent of households heat with district heating, while heat pumps are only available in three percent of households.