Claude Turmes shared that new buildings from 2023 won’t be connected to gas.  Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne Publishing SA

Claude Turmes shared that new buildings from 2023 won’t be connected to gas.  Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne Publishing SA

From 2023, new real estate built in Luxembourg will not be equipped with gas heating anymore, energy minister Claude Turmes (déi Gréng) revealed. 

The energy minister, alongside housing minister Henri Kox and environment minister Joëlle Welfing (both déi Gréng) to climate subsidies for households. Switching to a heat pump, adding solar panels or better insulation to save energy would be covered in part by the so-called Klimabonus. For most single-family households, the state covers up to €12,000 of the costs--which increases to €37,500 for buildings with several apartments. Lower income households would even be eligible for a 100% coverage of the costs, Turmes had stated.

In an interview with RTL, the energy minister had confirmed that for “new buildings, that are built after 1 January of next year, heat pumps will become the reference technology”. The “very good” insulation of these new constructions would turn the complicated process of linking a house to the gas network obsolete, he added.

For older buildings, Turmes suggests a hybrid heating system, where 60-80% of the time, greener solutions are used, and heating oil and gas are employed if other energy sources are not viable.

The revamped Klimabonus at the origin of this subsidy aims to help Luxembourg achieve its climate targets--reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and increasing energy efficiency by 44% this decade. Investments to switch to green heating from 1 January 2022 are covered retroactively too, Turmes explained.