Background information

According to the Federal Climate Protection Act 2030, Co2 emissions in the building sector must fall by at least 66 percent compared to 1990. The change in the heating sector away from fossil energy is essential for achieving this goal. In 2022, the government set out the goal for at least 500,000 heat pumps to be put into operation annually from 2024 in industry, trade and private households. However, this aim is jeopardized by the lack of qualified specialists. Against this background, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection issued the funding guidelines “Federal funding programme for heat pump expansion” on March 16, 2023.

Content of measure

The Federal funding programme for heat pump expansion is intended to support the further qualification of at least 45,000 skilled workers for the installation and regulation of heat pumps. In addition, at least 7,500 planners and consultants are to be further qualified over the same period in order to relieve the burden on craftsmen and free up additional resources for implementation. According to the guidelines, this will lead to an increase in the skilled workforce for the installation of an additional 230,000 heating heat pumps per year. It is also expected to result in a significant increase in the quality of planning and installation of the new heating systems and thus an increase in acceptance of the technology. Furthermore, the funding programme supports the overall technological transformation process in the sector.

Use of measure

No data available yet.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

To accompany its heat pump initiative, the federal government has initiated three "Heat pump summits" between 2022 and the end of 2023. Both sides of the sector level social partners as well as the different involved industry associations participate in the summits. The aim of the summits is to involve all relevant actors in the planning and implementation of the governments initiative.

Views and reactions

The trade unions, employer organisations and industry associations who participate in the heat pump summits support the goal of the strategy.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 16 March 2023: Förderrichtlinie Bundesförderung Aufbauprogramm Wärmepumpen (www.bundesanzeiger.de)