Heat pump in the Canton of NidwaldenHeating system, Nidwalden.

Permit: building application at the commune

Air-to-water heat pumps need a permit in the Canton of Nidwalden. The building application goes to the commune. It needs a siting plan, a site and facade plan showing the distance to the nearest receiving point, and the completed noise protection assessment. We prepare the documents and submit permit and subsidy applications.

For boreholes (ground probes), the water protection procedure applies. The application is submitted to the commune together with the building application, and the Environment Office is responsible. An objection period of 20 days applies.

Replacing your heating system: what the Energy Act requires

The revised Energy Act (NG 641.1) has applied since 1 November 2021 and is based on the cantons’ model provisions of 2014. When a heating system is replaced in residential buildings, part of the energy must be renewable. Buildings with a Minergie certificate or GEAK class D are exempt, and everyone else implements a standard solution. Installing a heat pump is such a solution.

Subsidies in the Canton of Nidwalden

The 2026 energy subsidy programme pays the following for replacing oil, gas and electric heating:

• Air-to-water: CHF 3,200 plus CHF 120 per kW
• Boreholes and water-to-water: CHF 4,800 plus CHF 360 per kW
• Replacing decentralised electric and fossil heating: CHF 15,000 up to 250 m² of energy reference area, and CHF 60 per m² above that

The application must be submitted through the application portal before work starts. Combining it with the federal climate bonus (Klimaprämie) is not allowed. You can read more about the systems under heat pump and ground-source heat pump.

Grid operator and electricity price

Ten of the eleven communes are supplied by the Elektrizitätswerk Nidwalden (EWN), and Beckenried has its own municipal utility. The cantonal median is 22.1 ct./kWh excluding VAT, clearly below the Swiss median of 27.7 ct. This makes running a heat pump cheaper. We submit the connection application to the grid operator.

A special feature: many apartment buildings

At 32 percent, Nidwalden has a high share of buildings with a heat pump. Around 35 percent still heat with oil, and more than half of the buildings date from before 1981. In apartment buildings, we plan the output precisely, because the subsidy depends on the heating output.