Oasis in the middle of Stuttgart: view from a former vineyard
Business location Germany

Business location Germany

Energy-efficient living space for young & old

The energy and heating transition is one of the major challenges of our time. KfW is helping to shape them.

The group built their houses together

Cosy warmth - it has been one of people's basic needs for thousands of years. However, the generation of heat energy is almost always associated with climate-damaging emissions. This needs to change quickly, especially as Germany wants to be climate-neutral by 2045.

KfW promotes investments that advance the energy and heating transition. For example, with promotional programmes aimed at constructing climate-friendly buildings, renovating existing buildings in an energy-efficient manner or modernising heating technology.

View of Hamburg's HafenCity from the East

On a small and large scale. We not only provide funds to private homeowners and tenants, but also to companies and local authorities that are reorganising energy generation and supply on a large scale.

One example: In Hamburg, thousands of households were previously supplied with district heating from the Wedel coal-fired power plant. The construction of a new supply tunnel under the River Elbe has created the conditions for the future distribution of thermal energy, in particular waste heat, from the ‘Harbour Energy Park’ throughout the city, thus opening up a new climate-neutral source of heat - a huge step for the environment.

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Reliable access to renewable energy and climate-friendly heat strengthens Germany's competitiveness as a business location, as it enables companies to operate more sustainably, reduce energy costs and better adapt to environmentally friendly standards, which in turn promotes innovation and investment that ultimately benefits society as a whole.

645,571 private residential units.

In 2024, KfW subsidised the purchase, construction, renovation and age-appropriate conversion of housing in Germany with a total of EUR 20.8 billion.

Published on KfW Stories: 4 December 2018, updated on 10 January 2025.