Driving the heating transition forward together

On February 1, 2025, the City of Jena will once again be fully staffed with the quintet of Lord Mayor and department heads. The course is already being set to jointly define key priorities for the legislative period that has just begun. One topic is right at the top of the agenda: the heating transition.

With the entry into force of the Heat Planning Act and the amendment to the Building Energy Act, all cities and municipalities are obliged to draw up municipal heat planning. The aim of the legislation is to convert the entire heat supply to renewable energies by 2045.

"In order for this to succeed, we need to network even more closely within the city's structures," says Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche. "In addition to the municipal utilities and the KSJ, this joint challenge will be tackled in particular by Lützkendorf's Climate Department and the Department of Urban Development and the Environment."

To ensure close ties with the municipal utility company and to ensure the best possible transfer of expertise, the new head of urban development, Dirk Lange, with his experience as a project manager, will also become co-plant manager at KSJ from February 1, 2025 for a limited period until December 31, 2025.

"I am pleased that we can enable my successor to get off to a smooth start by temporarily linking urban development even more closely with the KSJ," says Mayor Gerlitz with a view to the complex challenges.

The city of Jena is thus continuing to focus on closely coordinated cooperation between its organizational units in order to tackle the issues in a structured manner and not just symptomatically.

"It is important to involve the new elected officials directly from the outset and to focus on the issues at hand," adds plant manager Feige.

In view of the many interfaces between the company and the core administration, the future Head of Urban Development is also grateful for the opportunity for direct exchange.

"As the founding father of the KSJ, Mr. Feige is a real capacity and storehouse of knowledge, one of our most experienced colleagues in terms of expertise. I assume that I will be able to learn a lot from him during our year together," says Dirk Lange.

This initiative lays the foundation for a well-coordinated approach. This should also happen in other areas, e.g. by assigning the forestry department to the climate department. Head of department Lützkendorf is certain:

"This approach is ideal for well-balanced cooperation, and the interdisciplinary view of an issue will lead to better results overall."