The state capital of Mainz has begun to draw up a municipal heating plan for the city area. The plan is to have a plan in place by mid-2026 that shows how Mainz can be supplied with climate-neutral heating in the future.

The aim of municipal heat planning is to strategically plan the implementation of a sustainable heat supply from renewable energies and unavoidable waste heat. This plan is intended to give citizens, companies, and institutions certainty about what the heat supply will look like in the future.

The plan provides recommendations for different types of areas (e.g., single-family housing developments) and possible energy sources (e.g., district heating). However, it does not contain any legal obligations for building owners. This makes the plan an important tool for driving forward the heating transition in Mainz.

To ensure that municipal heat planning in Mainz is successful, it is important to involve Mainz residents and all key stakeholders at an early stage and directly. To this end, special concepts tailored to different groups are being developed in collaboration with communications experts. Among other things, events for representatives of local advisory councils and public meetings for all interested citizens are planned. 

Entire city of Mainz

Heat planning in Mainz began in December 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in June 2026. This is the legal deadline specified in the Heat Planning Act. Events for representatives of the local advisory councils were held in fall 2025. An open public forum for interested Mainz residents took place on October 2, 2025. A final public event is planned for March 11, 2026. From March 2 to 27, there will be an opportunity to view the draft municipal heat planning and submit comments. The current schedule can be found on the project page (see "Further information" below).

A consortium of experts was commissioned to develop the municipal heating plan, including all participation concepts.

The cost estimate for this amounts to approximately €250,000 for the preparation of municipal heat planning and €250,000 for accompanying measures (public relations, feasibility studies for local heating networks, etc.).

The first three steps of municipal heat planning have been successfully completed. The inventory and potential analysis provide important insights for planning a climate-friendly heat supply in Mainz. Citizens and representatives of local councils have been involved in separate events to discuss the results. The target scenarios have been defined. Work is now underway on the implementation strategy. Measures are being developed to enable Mainz to achieve its goal of a climate-neutral heat supply. The draft results of the entire heat planning process are expected in March.