A legal analysis published by IKEM sheds light on the regulatory framework for heat storage in Berlin. It comes to the conclusion that the construction of heat storage facilities is legally possible, but that more speed in expansion can only be achieved through the increased use of planning law instruments and adjustments to licensing law.
Heat storage systems are an important element in the decarbonization of the heat supply, as they enable the temporal decoupling of heat generation and use. Renewable heat sources – such as solar thermal energy or waste heat – are often available at different times to heat demand. Long-term storage systems can transfer surpluses from the summer to the heating period, while short-term storage systems compensate for fluctuations during the day.
The planning and licensing requirements must be met before heat storage facilities can be built. The study has examined the legal feasibility of various technologies – such as aquifer, ground basin, geothermal probe and tank storage – and does not see any fundamental obstacles to the construction of heat storage facilities, apart from the particularly important issue of groundwater protection.
In addition to the designation of suitable areas, the authors Charlotte Schwarzer-Geraedts and Franziska Stamme see the greatest challenges for heat storage in Berlin in licensing law. For example, there are legal uncertainties regarding the legal classification of storage technologies:
“It is currently unclear how the mining and water law regulations are to be interpreted, as there are no comprehensible uniform values, for example for the classification of brine or the temperature limits for a water hazard. Heat storage has not yet been explicitly taken into account in these laws. These uncertainties make the procedures unnecessarily complex and slow down the heat transition.
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Based on their analysis, the IKEM scientists formulate recommendations for action for the targeted promotion and legally compliant implementation of heat storage projects:
- Create legal certainty: The legal classification of heat storage facilities, particularly with regard to the distinction between mining and water law, should be clarified by means of uniform legal requirements.
- Classification of brine: The classification of brine as a non-mining mineral resource or a medium relevant under water law should be based on nationally defined limits in order to reduce the burden on approval procedures.
- Planning regulations: Heat storage facilities should be designated in the regional development plan, in land use plans and in development plans in order to facilitate the securing of land and subsequent approval.
- Overriding public interest: Heat storage facilities should be included in the overriding public interest – in Berlin, for example, by inclusion in the EWG Bln – in order to be given special weighting in subsequent decisions.
- Creation of an underground cadastre for the state of Berlin: A publicly accessible cadastre should identify suitable underground locations and provide information relevant to planning at an early stage.
The analysis was commissioned by the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment and is part of a joint research project with the Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI) and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), the results of which are being incorporated into the state of Berlin’s heat planning and have been published as part of a joint report
