SPD on climate and energy

The SPD wants to strengthen municipalities and their Stadtwerke (municipal utilities) as carriers of the energy transition and have energy generated, stored and traded locally. Planning for generation plants, storage and grids is to become simpler and clearer. In the party's view, this lowers costs permanently and boosts competitiveness.

The SPD wants to strengthen city-owned utilities. Energy should be made and stored locally. New plants and power lines should be easier to plan. The region should use more of its own green power. This should lower costs.

Energy generation is to take place together with local suppliers. The simplification covers building, renewing and operating generation plants and storage, as well as grid expansion. Renewable energy is to be consumed more within the region. The SPD expects benefits for jobs and the environment and stresses that renewables and energy-intensive production must go hand in hand.

The SPD wants to cut heating energy use through renovation and modern technology and cover it with renewables. Buildings in Thuringia are to be climate-neutral by 2040. Heating is to remain affordable for all income levels.

The SPD wants buildings to need less energy for heating. By 2040, buildings should no longer harm the climate. Heating should stay affordable for everyone. People who replace their heating system should get money from the state.

The platform names energy-efficient renovation along with heat pumps, solar thermal systems and building storage. Through municipal heat planning, a publicly run heat supply is to be secured and expanded, and new housing developments are to get shared heating. The SPD is pushing for a Thuringian bonus for replacing heating systems. The state energy agency ThEGA is to be strengthened so it can advise smaller municipalities in particular on applications, projects and founding energy cooperatives. Free energy advice and advice on renovation are to be expanded.

The SPD wants to revise the state climate law, back the goal of greenhouse gas neutrality with concrete steps and introduce an annual greenhouse gas budget in the long term. Climate action is to be socially balanced; among other things, the party calls for a social climate payment from the federal government.

The SPD wants to change Thuringia's climate law. The law should name exact steps for fewer greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases make the Earth warmer. People with little money should get relief when it comes to climate action.

The Thuringian SPD commits to the Paris climate agreement, the nuclear phase-out, the coal compromise and the federal and state climate laws. Reduction targets are to be adjusted. To offset unavoidable emissions, natural carbon sinks such as climate-resilient forests, rewetted peatlands and humus-rich soils are to be expanded; the party wants to examine technical carbon capture critically. People on low and middle incomes are to get lasting relief through a federal climate payment, public utility infrastructure and subsidies. Climate change and biodiversity loss are to get more room in school lessons.

The SPD wants to speed up the expansion of renewable energy, especially near industrial plants with high energy demand. Energy is to be produced regionally and in a decentralized way where possible; municipalities are to get money and advice for this, and citizens are to be able to take part through cooperatives.

The SPD wants more power from wind and sun, and faster. Power should be made where people need it. Towns and cities should get money and advice for this. Citizens should be able to produce energy together.

The program names wind, solar, biomass, ambient heat, hydropower and geothermal energy as sources. The state is to keep funding climate and energy managers in municipalities and their plans. Municipalities' new tasks are to be reflected in the municipal fiscal equalization system, and municipal supervisory authorities are to be trained for them. The state energy agency ThEGA is to be strengthened so it can advise more on generation, distribution and storage. The electricity market is to be further decentralized, and the founding of energy cooperatives is to be supported. Local utilities are to get help recruiting skilled workers.

The SPD sees municipal utilities as a mainstay of the energy transition and wants to give them and the municipalities more support for local and district heating. New heat sources from renewable energy are to be tapped, including deep geothermal energy.

The SPD wants to give municipal utilities more support for heating. Municipal utilities are city-owned companies for power and heat. Heat should come from renewable sources more often. This includes heat from deep in the earth.

The program names geothermal energy, solar thermal energy, large heat pumps and bioenergy as new sources for district heating. More cooperation, targeted funding and greater efficiency are meant to secure the heat supply in the long term. For deep geothermal energy, a study of its potential in Thuringia is to be drawn up, along with funding programs and risk-coverage instruments. These steps are to be closely aligned with municipal heat planning.

The SPD wants to pass a Thuringian solar expansion law and advance the use of solar energy. A state program is to open up more areas for photovoltaics, mainly on roofs, on facades and in combination with farming.

The SPD wants a new law for solar energy in Thuringia. There should be more solar panels, mainly on roofs and walls of buildings. Panels should also be possible on fields. Large solar parks should be built mainly next to roads and rail lines.

The SolarInvest funding program is to be adjusted, including more targeted support for electricity storage. On farmland, the SPD favors a secondary use that does not compete with cultivation, such as agri-photovoltaics. Solar parks are to be built preferably along highways, rail lines and power lines in order to bundle infrastructure. Municipalities are to be encouraged to designate areas for photovoltaics through concentration planning.

The SPD commits to expanding wind power, which it regards as the most important renewable energy source in Thuringia. It rejects blanket bans, for example on turbines in forests; new turbines are to meet high environmental and nature conservation standards.

The SPD wants more wind turbines in Thuringia. The party sees wind as the most important renewable energy. It rejects a general ban on wind turbines in forests. Nature should be protected when turbines are built.

In the SPD's view, wind power is needed so that Thuringia covers its energy demand within the state and the energy transition does not come at the expense of other states. The expansion is to be shaped in dialogue with local people. At the same time, the party wants to increase regional value creation across Thuringia, also to supply energy-intensive customers with a stable grid.

The SPD wants to generate more green electricity, mainly from wind, and to designate 2.2 percent of the state's land for wind power. The expansion is to happen in dialogue with local residents, and municipalities and residents are to share in the revenue.

The SPD wants more electricity from wind. For this, 2.2 percent of the land in Thuringia should be set aside for wind turbines. Local people should have a say. Towns and residents should get a share of the profits.

The regional planning associations are to work more transparently when they designate priority areas for wind power. These areas should be located where local industry benefits, little new grid expansion is needed, and the impact on people and the environment is small. Procedures for new turbines and for repowering, meaning replacing old turbines with new ones, are to become simpler and faster. An energy efficiency action plan aimed at sharply cutting total energy use is to be presented by 2027. The program treats biomass as an important part of the energy supply, mainly from waste and residues, and wants to strengthen sewage gas production.

The SPD wants to turn Thuringia into a hub for electricity storage and to build up its own production of green hydrogen. The state is to be connected to the national hydrogen core network, which the program describes as a key industrial policy decision.

The SPD wants more storage for electricity in Thuringia. That way there is power even without wind or sun. Thuringia should also make green hydrogen. This is a gas produced with green electricity. Thuringia should be connected to the big hydrogen network.

For storage, expertise is to be pooled and gaps in the value chain closed. Besides batteries, the program counts as storage production for stock that follows the availability of green power, as well as pumped-storage plants. Hydrogen research, including at Erfurter Kreuz and in Sonneberg, is to keep receiving support, and Erfurt is to become a hub for hydrogen mobility. The Thuringian Alliance for Hydrogen is to continue. The SPD wants to demand a connection to the national core network and support regional distribution networks.

The SPD calls for a temporary Brückenstrompreis (bridge electricity price) to support energy-intensive companies during the energy transition and to relieve consumers. For low-income households it backs a bonus for replacing heating systems and wants to rely more on support than on obligations in heating.

The SPD wants a bridge electricity price. This is a cheaper power price for a limited time. It should help companies that use a lot of power. Households with little money should get a bonus for replacing their heating. Advice on saving electricity should also stay.

Projects that deliver green power from nearby plants directly to large local industrial users are to be supported; for this, state-owned land and roofs could be leased at market prices without a tender. The advisory services of the Thuringian Energy and GreenTech Agency are to grow, and small and medium-sized firms are to get advice on energy efficiency. Funding programs such as GreenInvest are to help modernize production and buildings. The Stromsparcheck (power-saving check) for low-income households is to be made permanent statewide. On heating, the SPD says it wants fewer obligations and more options.