Germany revises funding scheme for heat pumps

The market stimulus programme (Marketanreizprogramme), by the German Federal Environment Ministry supports the use of renewable energy sources with a total amount of €500 million per year in the period from 2009 to 2012. Subject to support are among others installations using aerothermal, hydrothermal and geothermal energy sources in existing buildings.

Different levels of support are available for air to water, brine/water and water/water heat pumps that cater for both hot water needs and space heating, depending on whether these are electrically or gas driven as well as on whether these are installed in residential or non-residential buildings.

Currently, there are around 350,000 heat pumps installed in Germany, accounting for 6% market share in renovated buildings and 20% in new buildings.

Changes in 2011

For 2011, the German government has modified its incentive scheme for heat pumps, the main changes being:

• Availability of subsidies for large industrial heat pumps formerly excluded from the scheme: brine/water and water/water heat pumps with a capacity above 100 kW are newly taken into account in the funding provided by the KfW Banking Group, the German government-owned development bank. Eligible heat pumps, encompassing an Annual Performance Factor above 3.8, will be awarded €80 per kW of design capacity, with a minimum of €10,000 and up to a maximum of €50,000.

• The required minimum Annual Performance Factors have been lowered: This will amount to 3.8 for brine/water heat pumps and water/water heat pumps for dwellings and to 4.0 for non-residential buildings. For air/water heat pumps, the minimum annual performance factor will be 3.5 (down from 3.7 previously), while for gas-powered heat pumps it will be 1.3.

• The basis for calculating the level of support for heat pumps will be switched from heated floor space previously used to the rated heat output. This will facilitate and simplify the application process for receiving the support.

• The overall support levels remain approximately the same, ranging from €2,400 for heat pumps in single-family homes up to €11,400 for heat pumps with a heat output of 100 kW.

• The bonus for combining solar thermal energy and heat pumps has been raised from €500 to €600 for 2011.

Support levels for heat pumps up to 100kW will amount to:

Heat pump type and Annual Performance Factors (APF) requirements	Rated output capacity (kW)	Support level for installation in existing buidlings	Bonus for combining solar thermal energy and heat pumps
Water/water or brine/water heat pumps   - Gas driven: APF ≥ 1.3   - Electrically driven: APF ≥ 3.8   - In non-residential buildings: APF ≥ 4.0	≤ 10 kW	€2,400 lump sum	€600
	> 10 kW ≤ 20 kW	€2,400 + €120 per each extra kW
	> 20 kW ≤ 100 kW	€2,400 + €100 per each extra kW
Electrically driven air/water heat pumps   - APF ≥ 3.5	≤ 20 kW	€900 lump sum
	> 20 kW	€1,200 lump sum