Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control)

The BEW is a federal subsidy program launched in September 2022 and administered by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). It represents the first federal initiative to support both the construction of new heat networks and the transformation of existing fossil-fueled ones. It is part of Germany's Recovery and Resilience Plan, financed through the EU's NextGenerationEU facility.

The program funds the construction of new heat networks supplied by at least 75% renewable energy and unavoidable waste heat, as well as the transformation of existing networks toward full decarbonisation. It also covers large seasonal heat storage systems. Eligible technologies include deep geothermal energy, solar thermal, large heat pumps, biomass, and industrial waste heat. Eligible applicants include companies, municipalities, municipal enterprises, cooperatives, registered associations, and contractors. The program is structured in modules covering feasibility studies, investment subsidies of up to 40% of eligible costs, individual technical measures, and operational cost support for renewable heat generation. All supported heat networks must include a plan for achieving full greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045.

To be eligible for BEW funding, applicants must be companies, municipalities, municipal enterprises, cooperatives, registered associations, or contractors operating heat networks that serve more than 16 buildings or more than 100 residential units. The heat network must be supplied by at least 75% renewable energy and unavoidable waste heat , and a concrete transformation path toward emissions neutrality by 2045 must be defined for each network; fossil heat generators are not eligible. On the procedural side, applications must be submitted electronically via the BAFA portal before the project begins, i.e. before any delivery or service contracts related to execution are signed, though planning and consulting services may be carried out beforehand without triggering a project start.