German eco-party ridiculed for failing to install €5m heat pump at headquarters

Robert Habeck, Green Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor, at party headquarters in Berlin Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP VIA GETTY

Green Germanys have faced ridicule over reports that they failed to install a heat pump at their party headquarters despite pushing for a nationwide switch to the technology.

According to Der Spiegel magazine, the project to install the device at the Eco Party's headquarters in central Berlin took three and a half years due to a variety of problems, including difficulty finding qualified personnel and a two-year wait for drilling permission.

According to the magazine, the total cost of the project will reach 5 million euros, partly due to the cost of drilling almost 100 feet to extract heat from underground.

Germany is in a state of outrage with since the Greens announced plans to ban new gas heating installations starting next year and replace them with six million heat pumps by the end of the decade.

Critics argue that these plans will burden households with high costs and that the goal of installing 500,000 heat pumps annually is not feasible due to a lack of specialist tradesmen.

The claims are disputed

The Greens, Olaf Scholz's junior partners. The coalition claims that the installation of a heat pump at the party's headquarters is being delayed.

Party insiders say the long wait for approval was due to their choice of a special heat pump that draws heat from the ground rather than the surrounding air.< /p>

They also point out that the law they want to pass does not oblige people to install heat pumps, but instead allows them to opt for an environmentally friendly alternative such as remote heating.

The total cost of the Green' the cost of the headquarters should be 5 million euros. Photo: JOKO/ALAMY

When construction began in 2019, Green Party Secretary Michael Kellner said: “First we are going to rebuild our headquarters, and then we are going to rebuild the country.

However, opponents seized on the report, saying it was proof that the Greens were out of their element.

Here's an idea – let's talk about a new heating law. as soon as the Greens set a good example by installing it in their headquarters,” tweeted Florian Hahn, a senior figure in the conservative CSU party. According to the Greens polls, their poll scores fell by about five points to 14%.