SPD on climate and energy

The SPD wants to revise the state's climate protection law. Targets, measures and monitoring are to be derived from the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree goal and made binding. The party calls climate change the greatest challenge of the present.

The SPD wants to rewrite the NRW climate protection law. The Earth should warm by no more than 1.5 degrees. The law should follow this goal. It should list targets and measures. The state should check whether it meets the targets.

The revision is to take the federal climate targets into account. The state's targets, the measures and a system for monitoring progress are to be written into law. According to the platform, the decisive course for the climate crisis will be set in the coming years.

The SPD wants to expand wind and solar power almost everywhere in the state and give local residents a share of the returns. Rigid distance rules for wind turbines are to be dropped and turbines allowed in commercial forests. The coal phase-out is to happen once expansion targets are verifiably met.

The SPD wants more power from wind and sun. Wind turbines and solar panels should stand almost everywhere. People living nearby should get cheaper power or earn money from them. Fixed distance rules for wind turbines should go. Coal should end once enough new plants exist.

NRW is to contribute its share to the nationwide goal of setting aside two percent of land for wind power. Municipalities are to benefit from energy revenue. The party also wants more support for combined heat and power and an expanded district heating network fed by renewable sources such as large heat pumps, large-scale solar thermal and industrial waste heat. For the platform, leaving nuclear and coal at the same time requires a secure supply. The expansion is also justified by the claim that wind and solar power lower prices for industry and households.

The SPD wants to commission a study of the potential of renewable energy in North Rhine-Westphalia and of the capacity needed to meet climate targets. Based on this, the state's energy strategy is to be realigned and all renewable sources expanded more than before.

The SPD wants more power from wind, sun and other renewable sources. First, a study should show how much is possible. Then the SPD wants to rewrite the state's energy plan. Extra power should be stored as hydrogen.

As a first step, the program calls for a study of the potential and the required capacity. Overall electricity production in the state is expected to rise, because heating and transport will need more power. Surplus electricity is to be converted into green hydrogen, stored, and used again when wind and sun are weak. In the SPD's view, renewables act as a brake on energy prices and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels. The party also wants an Energy and Climate Agency for the state that builds on the staff, networks and know-how of the former Energieagentur NRW with comparable resources.

The SPD wants to create a public, easy-to-understand information tool on future prices for water, electricity and heating. It is meant to help people prepare for new energy prices and to show which government aid is available for which income groups.

The SPD wants a cost navigator for energy. This is a public overview of future prices for water, power and heating. It also shows what help the government offers. This way, everyone can prepare for the prices.

The navigator is meant to be transparent and simple to understand. It is to show which government support exists for which income groups. The program argues that high energy prices reduce the purchasing power of many families. In the SPD's view, better storage for renewable energy would make costs more stable in the long run, but this requires large investments in storage infrastructure.

Following the model of the "Innovation City Bottrop" pilot project, the SPD wants to promote local energy-transition efforts in 1,000 neighborhoods, mainly through energy-efficient building renovation. This is meant to serve climate protection, bring orders to local businesses and keep housing affordable.

The SPD wants to make 1,000 neighborhoods in the state more climate-friendly. The model is a project in the city of Bottrop. Above all, buildings should be renovated so they use less energy. This should also bring work for local tradespeople.

The plan is called "Innovation Cities NRW." Its focus is energy-efficient renovation of buildings in municipalities. The SPD also sees it as a contract program for skilled trades and mid-sized firms and as a way to strengthen cities and towns. According to the program, this should raise quality of life and increase the building sector's contribution to climate protection.

The SPD wants solar panels on every suitable roof. They are to be mandatory for new construction and conversions of commercial buildings and subsidized for existing buildings. Noise barriers along highways and rail lines are also to be fitted with photovoltaics where possible.

The SPD wants solar panels on as many roofs as possible. Anyone who builds or converts a commercial building must install solar panels. Existing buildings should get funding for this. Noise barriers should also get solar panels.

The requirement is to apply to every new build and conversion of commercial property. For existing buildings, the program provides for subsidies. Public buildings are to lead by example. Noise barriers along highways and rail tracks are to be equipped with photovoltaic modules wherever possible. The SPD calls this one example of systematically searching the state for more places to generate renewable power.

The SPD wants to set up acceleration centers and service centers for municipal permitting authorities. They are meant to make permits under the Federal Immission Control Act and the legally sound designation of wind energy zones easier and much faster.

The SPD wants wind turbines and other energy projects to get permits faster. New centers should be set up for this. Experts there help the offices in towns and counties. Today, some procedures take more than ten years.

The program points to planning procedures that sometimes last more than ten years and, in the SPD's view, endanger a secure and affordable energy supply. The new centers are to pool expertise across regions. This is meant to relieve authorities in municipalities and counties. The party expects faster procedures and more legal certainty for energy-transition infrastructure.

The SPD wants municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia to present a heating plan with concrete measures, priorities and a timeline within three years. The plans are meant to lower heat demand and shift supply to renewable sources.

The SPD wants every city and town to make a heating plan. The plan shows how buildings will be heated in a climate-friendly way. Municipalities should have three years for this. The plan lists measures and a timeline.

The heating plans are to cover three fields: lower heat demand in buildings, heating and cooling networks based on renewables, and individual heating systems run on renewable energy. They are to be weighted differently depending on local conditions. Technologies to be considered include solar thermal, heat pumps, biomass, sewage gas and waste heat. Urban planning steps such as greening and a long-term Power2X strategy for green gases are also part of it.

The SPD wants to develop the Rhine-Ruhr region into Germany's hydrogen center. To this end, a statewide pipeline network is to be built, existing long-distance natural gas pipelines converted, and skilled workers trained in a dedicated training center.

The SPD wants to make the state the top region for hydrogen. Hydrogen is a gas that can replace coal in industry. Pipes should carry hydrogen across the whole state. A new center should train skilled workers for this.

According to the program, hydrogen is to serve as storage and as a raw material in the steel and chemical industries. Instead of transport by truck, ship or train, a pipeline network is to distribute it. Existing long-distance natural gas pipelines are to be converted for green hydrogen. A training center is to qualify workers for hydrogen technology as well as for solar energy and charging infrastructure.

The SPD wants buildings owned by the state and municipalities to be built climate-neutral as a binding requirement. Cities and towns would get help with accessible redesign and with adapting to climate change, for example through more green and water areas.

New buildings owned by the state and towns should not harm the climate. This would become a rule. The SPD also wants to help cities with rebuilding. More green areas and water should make cities cooler.

As an example, the program names an investment and funding program titled "Mit Wasser und Natur das Quartier lebenswert machen" (making neighborhoods livable with water and nature). Urban greenery and green roofs are meant to absorb and store rainwater and cool their surroundings. Urban development funding and housing policy would be geared toward sustainable and healthy living across the whole residential environment. The SPD also backs the International Garden Exhibition IGA 2027 in the Ruhr area as an opportunity for urban and regional development.