HEATING & VENTILATION
Network Market Framework and Heat Network Zoning will also continue as planned. Under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, available in England and Wales, the grant level has doubled for heat pumps to £7,500. Biomass boilers will continue to receive grants of £5,000. Phase 4 of the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme will see £1.17bn worth of grants for 2025/2026 – 2027/2028, to enable public sector organisations to switch to clean energy, such as heat pumps as well as installing energy efficiency measures like insulation. There remains no funding for private sector non-domestic properties.
Why heat pumps for Net Zero?
Heat pumps are significantly – up to a third – more efficient than gas boilers, with potential for even further efficiency as the technology develops, meaning they require less energy to run. Of course, this level of efficiency does rely on the key success factors of system design and the overall thermal efficiency of the building. A heat pump system that is not correctly sized, or a building without effective insulation, will require more energy to keep at the desired temperature, meaning the heat pump is then not operating at maximum efficiency. Furthermore, heat pumps with smart controls actually learn the occupant’s preferences and building heat physics, which makes it possible to reduce the peaks of grid strain whilst power stations are currently still producing both gas and electricity.
What next?
There can be no doubt that heat pumps will be the core means of decarbonising heating in buildings. However, whether the target of deploying 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028
Beehive hp Ad 1 Sept21 & Nov21.qxp_Layout 1 17/8/21 09:49 Page 1
can be achieved remains hotly debated. In response to the government’s announcement in September 2023, the Climate Change Committee said: “These announcements significantly increase the risks to the Government achieving its own targets on heat pump installations.” It cites the importance of low- carbon heating mechanisms, including heat pumps, to increase the rate of decarbonisation in buildings. However, the UK had the lowest number of heat pumps installed per capita in 2022 compared to neighbouring countries. There are a number of factors at play
here, including the cost of heat pumps (plus comparatively high running costs), lack of public trust in them, and the scarcity of trained installers. When it comes to the latter, training really is essential as, whilst there are some similarities, fitting a heat pump is quite distinct from a gas boiler. As of July 2022, the number of qualified heat pump engineers was estimated to be around 3,000, but according to Nesta’s (a UK innovation foundation that provides programmes, investment, policy and research to promote innovation across a broad range of sectors) modelling the UK will need at least 27,000 qualified engineers by 2028 to meet the Government’s installation targets. This means the training of 5,000-7,000 installers per year is needed between 2025 and 2035. It’s clear that there are challenges here, but also plenty of opportunities. There isn’t a one- stop, overnight solution to get to Net Zero and decarbonise UK heating; this is going to be a stepped process, but it is one we must make.
• Earlier this month it was reported the government was considering rowing back on the Clean Heat Mechanism although a firm announcement was yet to be made at the time of publishing.
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Read the latest at:
www.bsee.co.uk
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