Habeck's heat pump destination threatens to fail: Where are the applications?

The Federal Government announced the installation of 500,000 new heat pumps per year from 2024 with the "virtual heat pumping top" on June 29, 2022 under the direction of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and Federal Minister of Building. The event gathered 26 representatives from companies, associations of heat management, craft, trade unions and consumer protection associations.

In the corresponding framework, a “heat pump development program” was promised for financial support. Previously, a building energy law was introduced in the summer of 2023, which aimed to gradually abolish old fossil heaters. However, this law met with considerable criticism, since it was perceived as poorly prepared and communicated and required multiple corrections.

massive failure of the goals

The efforts to have the installed heat pumps remain behind the expectations: According to a request from the CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph Ploß, the goal of 500,000 new heat pumps was massively missed in 2024. While less than 190,000 funding applications for new heat pumps were made in 2022, the figures for 2023 continued with only around 127,000 applications. In 2021, 154,000 heat pumps were installed in Germany.

Most applications for funding from 2022 to 2024 came from North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. In contrast, significantly fewer applications were registered in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. Christoph Ploß expressed sharp criticism of the traffic light coalition and called for stronger technology openness and market economy approaches to promote energy -efficient and climate -friendly future.

An important aspect in funding is the federal funding for efficient buildings (BEG), which provides for renovations for saving energy costs and supporting climate protection. The continuation of this program at the turn of the year 2023/2024 is secured and will continue in early 2025, taking into account the provisions for provisional housekeeping.

The BEG comprises three sub -programs: BEG WG for residential buildings, BEG NWG for non -residential buildings and BEG EM for individual measures. Applications can be made online via the BAFA portal, whereby an energy efficiency expert is required for certain measures. These expertise supports the applicants in creating technical project descriptions and evidence.