Greens warn Vienna’s district heating rollout could take until 2058

Vienna’s district heating expansion is too slow to meet the city’s climate goals, the Greens say, according to ORF. The party estimates that at the current pace, the rollout could take until 2058. Vienna aims to phase out oil and gas and become climate-neutral by 2040.

The city announced “pioneer areas” in June 2023, where it would install district heating at its own expense to make switching heating systems cheaper. But Vienna Green Party leader Peter Kraus said the transition remained far too slow.

In a pioneer area in Mariahilf, a Vienna district, the city government wants to demonstrate how the phase-out can work. Kraus said only 20 buildings had been converted, at considerable cost and disruption, and criticised a lack of transparency. He said residents still had no clear answers about when district heating would reach their street, the conditions and price for connecting, or whether prices would remain stable in the years ahead.

Jürgen Czernohorsky, the SPÖ city councillor responsible for climate issues, said on Tuesday’s Ö1 Morgenjournal that Vienna was in the middle of the transformation. He said gas boilers were often replaced only when they broke, while new buildings were being built entirely with renewable energy. Heat pumps, he added, generally serve an entire building rather than just one apartment.

Czernohorsky said two conditions were needed: individuals should not be able to block conversions or renovations that benefit the wider public, and tenants’ costs should be guaranteed to go down. He noted that everyone ultimately pays for gas, which is becoming more expensive.

Czernohorsky’s office later told ORF Vienna that SPÖ city councillor Ulli Sima was responsible for district heating conversions. Sima’s office referred the broadcaster to Wien Energie, which said difficult economic conditions had led many homeowners to postpone investments in new heating systems. The company said findings from the pioneer areas were being incorporated into further planning.

The Greens also pointed to what Kraus described as a “back-and-forth” between city councillors over responsibility. The rollout’s cost may be one factor slowing progress, the report said, as budgets are tight.