Dortmund to open the ‘funding gates’ for a just green transition for households

The city plans to launch six funding schemes this year alone

Yesterday, the city of Dortmund announced a host of new measures aimed at aiding the energy transition for households and homes. These include six low-threshold funding schemes for solar and energy efficiency, created by the city’s Environment Agency.

According to a press statement, the total funding until the year 2027 is set to be 3.5 million euros. The local council is scheduled to vote on the programmes on 15 June. City officials claim that adopting the new measures is a crucial step for ensuring that the green energy transition leaves no one behind while working to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the city.

Low threshold support for households

The funding will focus on six different programmes: green roofs on private buildings, rooftop photovoltaics, energy renovations for apartment buildings, geothermal energy development, mini-photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. Through these six proposals, residents of Dortmund will have a plethora of choices for a private energy transition.

In terms of green roofs, local authorities are trying to unseal more land and use valuable urban real estate. The programme will be a continuation of an existing scheme which was in great demand, according to the city, with an expanded funding period until 2027.

For photovoltaics, Dortmund is looking to expand the existing offer by allowing apartment buildings with multiple homeowners to apply. Additionally, previously the available project funding was 1,000 euros and the city is looking to raise that as well to drive more demand, although the funding should be spread across 2023 to 2025.

In terms of energy renovation, Dortmund wants to boost its bid to become climate neutral by 2035 by offering to fund apartment buildings as well. The city explained that this is due to the extra cost to refurbish an entire building which is quite often the main roadblock to private investment in the sector.

At the same time, the city wants to continue funding for the development of geothermal energy until the end of 2024. The same goes for financing geothermal heat pumps, which are usually prohibitively expensive for private household consumers.

Finally, local authorities want to promote the use of mini photovoltaic systems, although exact guidelines are still being developed. Still, the city sees this programme to deliver results between 2023 and 2025.