Germany’s largest real estate group Vonovia cannot use 70 percent of its installed heat pumps due to a lack of permits and insufficient power supply.
Experts criticize the high effort involved in installing heat pumps – especially with regard to the power supply.
The federal government is planning to expand the electricity infrastructure. She wants to increase the proportion of heat pumps in the German heating system to almost a third over the next seven years.
Vonovia, Germany’s largest real estate group, is currently apparently unable to use around 70 percent of the heat pumps it has already installed. That’s what CEO Rolf Buch said “business week”.
Accordingly, many permits from local network operators, i.e. the local municipal utilities, are currently missing in order to connect the heat pumps. According to Buch, one reason for this is that there is currently not enough electricity to operate the heat pumps. In many places, decentralized energy producers are threatening to overwhelm the power grids during peak loads.
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In addition, it still has to be clarified whether the houses intended for heat pumps are insulated well enough: “The municipalities urgently need a strategy and a plan. When it comes to heat pumps, it shows that good projects are often not thought through to the end politically,” said Buch on the “Wirtschaftswoche”.
Infrastructure is not yet ready for heat pumps
Experts repeatedly criticize the high level of effort that is currently still associated with the installation of heat pumps – especially when it comes to the power supply. In many cases, special lines have to be installed first. This can be very expensive.
Heat pumps are often traded as a climate-friendly heating alternative and are intended to make Germany less dependent on gas supplies.
In January 2022, Vonovia launched a heat pump program. Accordingly, the installation of a total of 6000 heat pumps is planned within five years. In September 2022, the group had already installed 115 heat pumps, which are to heat 108 buildings with 671 apartments in the future. According to Vonovia, it also wants to use electricity from photovoltaic systems for this purpose.
Meanwhile, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is trying to further promote heat pumps. As the “world” reported on Thursday, Hobeck is planning an amendment to the “Energy Industry Act” (EnWG), according to which the electricity infrastructure is to be expanded to such an extent that the politically desired number of heat pumps and electric cars can also be supplied. The aim is for almost a third of the entire German heating system to consist of heat pumps within seven years.
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