At the federal level, the Heat Planning and Decarbonisation of Heat Networks Act (Wärmeplanungsgesetz - WPG) came into force on 1 January 2024, requiring the federal states to ensure that their municipalities draw up a heat plan by 2028 at the latest. Since 2 January 2025, the corresponding ordinance for municipal heat planning in Bavaria has also been in force. In this blog post, we summarise what this means for the municipalities in Bavaria and for the financing of heat planning.

The original text of the Bavarian regulation defines three points that have been added to the original regulation as amendments:

• The municipalities are defined as the bodies responsible for planning
• For municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, the simplified procedure for municipal heat planning is defined in more detail
• The heating plan must be published within 3 months of the resolution being passed (a digital platform for Bavaria is to follow)

The second point on the simplified procedure mainly includes the permission to dispense with cartographic representations of, for example, the predominant building age class at the block level or gas storage facilities.

In addition to this regulation, the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy also provides numerous information on its homepage. In particular, the frequently asked questions for municipalities contain some helpful information that goes beyond the content of the regulation. These are continuously updated. Nevertheless, we would like to highlight a few of the most important points here:

Terms for the KWP in Bavaria

The deadlines from the federal heat law remain unchanged for all Bavarian municipalities. Municipalities with less than 100,000 inhabitants have until June 30, 2028. In Bavaria, there are eight municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. For these, the deadline is already June 30, 2026.

Current status of the KWP in Bavaria and recognition of existing heat plans

All eight of these major cities have already adopted their heat plan, such as Munich, or are already well advanced in the creation of the heat plan. Of the remaining approximately 2,050 municipalities in Bavaria, about 640, for example through ZUG funding, already have a protected heat plan or are currently in the creation or tendering process. On the overview page of the "Kompetenzzentrums Wärmewende" in Halle, there are currently three completed heat plans from Bavaria (Munich, Augsburg, and Sulzbach-Rosenberg). It is expected that many more will be added soon.

For all already active municipalities, it is particularly important that their existing or currently being developed heat plans are also recognized under the new regulation. The following requirements must be met:

• A resolution or decision to carry out the planning was taken before 1 January 2024.For example, submitting an application for funding under the Municipal Directive is sufficient as a "decision"
• The heat plan must be published before 30 June 2026
• The heat plan must be "essentially comparable to the requirements of the Heat Planning Act". The StMWi website provides some examples and states that the full requirements of the WPG must only be met during the update in such cases

Financing the KWP in Bavaria

Until the end of 2024, Bavarian municipalities also had the opportunity to apply for funding for the implementation of the KWP under the nationwide municipal guideline. As mentioned above, about 640 municipalities in Bavaria have taken advantage of this and are currently already in the tendering or creation process of heat planning or have already completed it.

As part of the new regulation at the beginning of 2025, the StMWi defines a new cost reimbursement for the implementation of heat planning for municipalities in Bavaria. A total of 79 million euros is planned for this until 2028. When determining the amount of effort, several categories were introduced as a special feature for Bavaria, even for smaller municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, so that the reimbursement for municipalities with a heat planning obligation according to § 4 para. 1 WPG is determined depending on the number of inhabitants as follows:

In addition, municipalities with protected heat plans (e.g., from ZUG funding) also have the opportunity to receive administrative cost reimbursement. This is also staggered according to the number of inhabitants between 9,600 and 25,500 euros. The reimbursement is made via the Bavarian State Office for Weights and Measures (LMG) and is to be paid in two installments: upon application by the municipality at the beginning of the planning and after submission of the completed heat plan. Details on the payment modalities are to be provided to the municipalities within the first quarter of 2025.

Further information

In addition to the pages of the StMWi with the continuously expanded answers to numerous questions about the KWP in Bavaria, the KWW-Halle also continues to provide numerous important information on municipal heat planning. In addition, we are happy to advise you at any time on your specific questions about the KWP in Bavaria and beyond and look forward to your inquiry by phone or email. And further information about our work at heatbeat on the KWP can be found, for example, in this podcast or at our next online seminar together with ENERPIPE.