Hydrogen heating | Germany sets 2035 date for fossil-gas networks to switch to clean H2 or switch off

A previous version of the bill, which aims to ban fossil-fuel heating in Germany by 2045, had led to a public row between coalition partners the Greens and the more financially conservative Free Democratic Party — but a compromise agreement was reached late on Friday.

When the three-way “traffic light” coalition of the Greens, centre-left Social Democrats and FDP came to power in 2021, they had agreed that all new heating systems must be powered by at least 65% renewable energy “wherever possible”.

A law on the matter was subsequently drafted by the Greens — under leader Robert Habeck in his role as minister for economic affairs and climate action — which amounted to a de-facto ban on new oil and gas heating systems from 2024, but it was leaked at the beginning of March, and the FDP came out fiercely against it.

A new draft law, agreed by all three parties on Friday, has now been released, which allows “hydrogen-ready” gas boilers to be installed until 2035 — but only on the proviso that gas networks are switched to run on hydrogen by 1 January 2035.

And from 2045, “all heating systems must be operated entirely with renewable energies”, it says.

“When installing or setting up a heating system... which can use both natural gas and 100% hydrogen, the owner may use natural gas for heat generation... until January 1, 2035,” says the proposed legislation, but it adds that the gas distribution system operator will have to discontinue the natural-gas supply by this date.

The building owner would also have to purchase 50% “green gases” — biomethane or other gases derived from methane — from January 1, 2030, and 65% green or blue hydrogen from January 1, 2035, and provide evidence of doing so by each relevant date.

The bill adds that the “discontinuation of the natural gas supply to the connected customers” must be achieved by January 1, 2035 at the latest.

As part of this, the gas distribution system operator “must explain how the gas network infrastructure in his network area is to be converted to a hydrogen infrastructure by 1 January 2035”.

“This transformation plan must include an investment plan with two- to three-yearly milestones for the implementation of the new construction or the conversion of the gas network to hydrogen.”

The draft law adds: “If the heating system cannot be operated with at least 65% green or blue hydrogen... because the new construction or conversion of the distribution network has not been completed or it is not connected to an upstream hydrogen transport network or to a secured local hydrogen production... the person responsible for the heating system is obliged to comply with the requirements [of this law].”

A note attached to the legislation explains that the use of hydrogen would require “the existing natural gas network to be converted to hydrogen”.

“Extensive adjustments are necessary for this and it is also not clear whether such a conversion of the existing infrastructure is technically feasible in all gas distribution networks, taking into account economic efficiency. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that, apart from the availability of hydrogen, all gas distribution networks will be converted to hydrogen.

But the inclusion of hydrogen heating in the proposed law has caused an outcry among consumer and climate groups.

Uta Weiss, an expert on heating networks at energy-transition think-tank Agora Energiewende, agreed.

She also added that burning green hydrogen would require five to ten times as much renewable electricity as a heat pump to produce the same amount of heat, due to conversion losses and the high efficiency of the electric solution.

“We also having a timing problem,” she said. “Hydrogen will be scarce in the long term and will not be available in large quantities until the mid-2030s at the earliest.”