BOCHUM (dpa-AFX) - Germany's largest real estate group Vonovia cannot start up heat pumps that have already been installed in many cases because they could not yet be connected. One reason is that there is not enough electricity available due to a lack of grid expansion, Vonovia CEO Rolf Buch said Thursday. Around 70 installed devices have not yet been connected, a company spokeswoman said.

Vonovia had launched a special heat pump program in January 2022. It provides for the installation of 6000 heat pumps within five years. In a first step, a total of 115 heat pumps were installed in September, which will heat 108 buildings with 671 apartments in the future. In most cases, Vonovia also intends to use self-generated electricity from photovoltaic systems.

Buch confirmed that photovoltaic systems are to be installed on almost all 30,000 suitable roofs in the building stock by 2045. By the end of 2022, the company had installed 533 systems. As an interim target by 2030, the real estate giant wants to equip 17,000 roofs with photovoltaic systems. "Climate neutrality by 2045 remains an important goal," Buch emphasized.

Vonovia owns just under 550,000 apartments in Germany, Sweden and Austria. In addition, it manages almost 71,000 apartments./tob/DP/stk