Heat turn in the Amstettner district: communities in the fight against fossil fuels!

Heat turn in the Amstettner district: communities in the fight against fossil fuels!

The 35 municipalities in the Amstetten region face a groundbreaking challenge: the transformation of heating supply to renewable energies. According to a comprehensive report on the heating development, which was created as part of the climate and energy model region (KEM), about two thirds of the heat requirement is currently covered with fossil fuels, while only a third comes from renewable sources. The document outlines several scenarios, including the "Business-As-Uusual-Case", which describes the continuation of the current heating composition, as well as the scenario "Raus out of the oil", which targets an annual decrease in oil heating of 3%, as [meinbezirk.at] reported.

challenges and solutions of the heat transition

The comprehensive heat transition not only has the environment, but also financial dimensions. A study by the competence center for public economy, infrastructure and general interest at the University of Leipzig analyzes the challenges for almost 600 municipalities and 100 municipal utilities in Germany. The current proportion of regenerative energies in municipal heat supply is only 18.8%. In order to achieve climate -neutral heat supply by 2045, extensive planning and investments are required. The municipal heat planning alone is estimated at 520 million euros by 2028, with the pressure on smaller municipalities due to its limited financial resources, as [kowid.de] has emphasized. The study sees a possible solution in a so-called "convoy procedure" in which municipalities work together to share expensive staff and bundle resources.

Overall, the heat transition brings immense challenges for the municipalities, since they not only have to develop sustainable heat plans together, but should also increase the influence on external companies. The implementation of the existing plans is particularly difficult for the municipalities who do not have their own municipal utilities, since they often do not have the necessary control over the implementation. An adequate financial and planning framework is therefore crucial to set the course for sustainable and successful heat supply.