Flemish government approves Heat Plan 2025.

On the proposal of Flemish Energy Minister Zuhal Demir, the Flemish Government approved the Vision Memorandum "Heat Plan 2025" on December 10, 2021.

With a share of more than 50%, heat is the most important component of energy consumption in Flanders. For households, this even runs to three-quarters of their energy consumption. 85% of Flemish people heat their homes with fossil fuels. By 2050, almost 100,000 households would have to make their heating supply sustainable every year. This is one of the major challenges that the Heat Plan addresses.

New construction (both residential and non-residential) will be the forerunner in the transition from fossil to climate-friendly. After phasing out fuel oil from 2022, environmental permits will no longer allow natural gas connections from January 1, 2026. The heat pump or connecting to a heat network will become the norm. For new buildings to be built in the coming years, it will be important to provide low-temperature underfloor heating or radiators already, so that no breaking work will be needed later to heat the home completely sustainably. In the meantime, the proportion of green heat will already increase: in permit applications from Jan. 1, 2023, a condensing boiler will no longer suffice for those who still want to heat with natural gas. A hybrid heat pump will become the minimum requirement. A hybrid heat pump is a heat pump that draws heat from the environment and can still supplementary heat with natural gas on the coldest days.

The obligations for new construction set the direction for existing buildings. Existing buildings must match the energy efficiency of new construction by 2050. In the following years, this evolution will be initiated step by step. This is done mainly through sensitization, premiums and interest-free loans. Because investing precipitously can lead to half-hearted or more expensive renovations, a planned approach is recommended: first reduce energy consumption by thoroughly insulating the entire building, then switch to underfloor heating or another low-temperature system and then reduce the use of fossil fuels. Grants for heat pumps and interest-free loans, among others, are being increased and expanded.

Heat networks are also becoming increasingly important. Today there are already about 75 heat networks in Flanders. Along underground pipes, they transport heat from, for example, a heat plant or a company that has heat in surplus to other companies, schools, hospitals or homes. If there is a heat network nearby, it may be more interesting to connect to it than to invest in your own heating system. The Heat Plan envisions exploring the connection premium for existing homes to heat networks and also provides more resources to support projects that use green heat, waste heat and sustainable heat networks.

The Heat Plan 2025 contains 26 measures to make the transition to sustainable heating and the greening of energy carriers. The plan thus ensures the implementation of the objectives around green heat and residual heat in the Coalition Agreement 2019-2024, the policy note Energy 2019-2024 and the Flemish Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030. The Flemish Minister responsible for Energy will ensure the further elaboration of these actions. All ministers will themselves implement the measures that fall under their competence.

Green heat, like solar and wind, is often a local story with different players. Provinces, cities and towns have a big role, but businesses, knowledge institutions and other organizations are also important to making this plan work.

Source: VEKA