Municipal heat planning: How do I heat in a more climate-friendly way?
September 19, 2025
How can heating in the Konz municipality be made more climate-friendly in the future? This question was the focus of an information event held in the gymnasium of the Berendsborn elementary school in Konz, to which all residents were invited.
Photo: (from left) Sandra Menster (Verbandsgemeindewerke AöR), Guido Wacht (Full-time Deputy Mayor VG Konz) and Ralf Zorn (Board of Verbandsgemeindewerke AöR) at the information event on municipal heat planning.
First, the so-called "municipal heat planning" project, which the Verbandsgemeindewerke Konz AöR (Konz Municipal Utilities) has been carrying out on behalf of the Konz Municipal Association over the past few months, was presented. This involved a detailed analysis of the local conditions in the city of Konz and the local communities within the association.
The result: Potential for heating networks currently exists only in a few areas of the city of Konz. These include the industrial park in Könen and parts of Berensborn. The Verbandsgemeindewerke Konz AöR (Konz Municipal Utilities Association) is currently planning a network there that will be powered, among other things, by heat from the Saar River. Whether the plan can be implemented economically depends on funding and is expected to be decided at the beginning of next year. If funding is approved, the AöR will proactively approach potential heat consumers; pre-registration is not possible. There are also streets in the northern part of the city center, in Karthaus, Canet, and Roscheid where a heating network could be feasible and cost-effective.
According to the current analysis, no such options exist in the remaining urban areas and in the local communities. Here, decentralized solutions must play a key role when changing heating systems. This includes, for example, heat pumps or heat pump hybrid systems, pellet heating systems, or solar thermal systems.
To provide citizens with a brief overview of heating system replacement options, an energy consultant from the Trier Consumer Advice Center provided information at the event about heating and subsidy options. The Consumer Advice Center also offers individual consultations.
Further information on municipal heat planning and the services offered by the Consumer Advice Center can be found at konz.de/waermeplanung .
To the background:
Municipal heat planning (KWP) is a legally mandated process for German municipalities to achieve climate-friendly heat supply by 2045. It is intended to demonstrate, based on local conditions, a path for how heat supply can be gradually converted in the future.
The municipal heat plan is not binding and does not constitute an enforceable legal claim by individual citizens to the implementation of the projects presented. This means that the areas mentioned therein that are suitable for heating networks, for example, are potential Areas - but that does not necessarily mean that they will actually be realized there.