Heat tariff overview

CO₂ stands for carbon dioxide. This is an invisible, odourless gas that occurs in the air. It is produced, for example, when humans and animals breathe, when wood, coal, oil or gas are burnt and in many industrial processes. Carbon dioxide plays a major role in the climate because, as a greenhouse gas, it contributes to global warming. It is therefore important to minimise _CO₂ emissions.

Depending on the fuel used,_{CO2 emissions} are produced during the generation of district heating.

In order to incentivise the reduction of_{CO2 emissions},_{CO2 emitters}, including district heating suppliers, must purchase emission certificates that allow them to emit a certain amount of_CO2. In Germany, the purchase of_{CO2 certificates} is governed by the Fuel Emissions Trading Act. There is also the European Emissions Trading Scheme for larger plants. Emissions trading works according to the "cap and trade" principle: By continually reducing the number of available_{CO2 certificates} and allowing_{CO2 certificates} to be traded between companies, a long-term rising_{CO2 price} is formed.

District heating suppliers such as Stadtwerke Gießen also have to pay for the_CO2 released during heat generation.

By passing on the costs for the purchase of_{CO2 certificates} from the producers to the end consumers, the aim is to incentivise them to save energy and heat, for example by using efficient heating systems or insulating buildings.

However, we at Stadtwerke Gießen also see it as our duty and are working on using more and more renewable energies and climate-friendly technologies - so that district heating becomes_CO2-neutral in the medium term and remains affordable.

The legislator has set the price to be paid for_CO2 in national emissions trading until the end of 2025. For 2026, the necessary emission allowances will be auctioned within a price corridor of at least EUR 55 to a maximum of EUR 70 per tonne of_CO2.

In addition to the uncertainty about the price that SWG will have to pay for the certificates in 2026, there is also uncertainty about how many emission certificates will actually be required for heat generation. This depends on the consumption volumes of our customers and, in particular, on the proportion of fossil fuels in our generation:

If a lot of renewable energy or waste heat is used, less_CO2 is released for every megawatt hour of heat generated than if only fossil fuels are used to generate heat.

Stadtwerke Gießen operates numerous district heating networks; in addition to a large district heating network in Gießen, there are many small networks in Central Hesse. It goes without saying that Stadtwerke Gießen calculates the exact amount_{of CO2} produced in each network for heat generation. This is used to calculate the individual_{CO2 quantities} released during heat generation in each network (_{CO2 factor}).

The_{CO2 factor} of "your" network, the_{CO2 price} and your heat consumption form the basis for calculating your_{CO2 costs}, which we show you on every bill.

Stadtwerke Gießen continues to work continuously on increasing the use of renewable energies and climate-friendly technologies in order to reduce_{CO2 emissions} and_consistently lower_CO2 costs.

In addition to the large plants that are already subject to European emissions trading, Stadtwerke Gießen operates numerous smaller generation plants that are still subject to national emissions trading.

National emissions trading provides for fixed_{CO2 prices} up to and including 2025 in the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG). From 2026, the required_{CO2 certificates} will be auctioned at a predetermined price corridor of EUR 55 to 70 per tonne of_CO2. From 2028 at the latest, national emissions trading will be transferred to European emissions trading with free pricing.

Against this background, the determination of_{CO2 prices} will also change from 2026, as there will no longer be any fixed_{CO2 prices}.

Stadtwerke Giessen's district heating networks are also continuing to develop. In our various networks, there are now different generation situations, e.g. heat generation from pellet systems, heat pumps or efficient combined heat and power plants. However, this also means that different amounts of_CO2 are released per kilowatt hour of heat generated in each network. We calculate your individual_{CO2 costs} on the basis of this network-specific_{CO2 factor}.

This results in the following example calculation (with an annual consumption of 5,000 kWh of heat and specific CO2 costs of 1.44 Ct/kWh):

Multiply the annual consumption by the specific_{CO2 price}: 5,000 kWh/year x 1.44 Ct/kWh gross = 7,200 Ct/year gross. Divide this by 100 to get from cents/year to euros/year. In this example, you arrive at 72 euros/year gross or 6 euros/month gross as your specific_{CO2 costs}. You can apply this calculation to your individual values, which you received in your last statement and in our customer information letter.

Your contract contains a price formula for the service price and the labour price. On the one hand, this price formula is used to calculate the service price, which is independent of consumption and covers, among other things, the provision of our heat generation systems and the maintenance and servicing of the district heating pipes. On the other hand, the consumption-dependent labour price (without_{CO2 share}) is calculated for heat generation, i.e. essentially for the procurement of fuels. These price components are recalculated in accordance with the contractual provisions in April and October of each year on the basis of various indices from the Federal Statistical Office.

The_{CO2 price} from national emissions trading always changes on 1 January of each year in accordance with the provisions of the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG). As we only pass on the_{CO2 costs} 1:1, this price component will change from January 2026.

The_{CO2 costs} for each kilowatt hour of district heating produced depend on two factors:

• The amount of_CO2 released in the respective district heating network for the production of one kilowatt hour of district heating (the_{CO2 factor}).
• The price that heat supply companies have to pay for_{CO2 certificates}, i.e. for every tonne of_CO2 released during heat generation (_{CO2 price}).

To summarise, this means that if the generation plants in a district heating network do not change, the_{CO2 factor} remains stable. However, the_{CO2 costs} can change if the_{CO2 price} rises.

Conversely,_{CO2 costs} can remain stable if_{CO2 prices} rise but the generation situation in a district heating network changes fundamentally (e.g. due to investments in new renewable generation plants) and the_{CO2 factor} in the affected network falls as a result.