Renewables
www.heatingandventilating.net
Update on heat pump rollout R
In April’s edition of HVR , Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak had been our Prime Minster and Chancellor for around 2.5 years. The recent political turbulence has been unsettling not just for the financial markets, but has also created uncertainty in the still-emerging policy framework to support the target for 600,000-heat pump installations per year by 2028. Phil Hurley, chair of the Heat Pump Association offers some insight
ecent retail energy price changes have caused the public to be more aware of energy use, and the option of heat pumps
is gaining awareness as a means to save costs versus fossil fuel-burning appliances. It is critical that the Government support the move to these low-carbon alternatives to strengthen our resilience for energy security. Current fuel cost comparisons between boilers and heat pumps Energy prices are currently big news, and the rise in energy costs has brought to light how heat pumps are often more cost-effective to run than mains gas boilers. Furthermore, customers can also utilise solar photovoltaics to produce their electrical energy which can further drive down costs when using heat pumps, and a typical property with solar PV panels saves an additional further 24% on heat pump running costs.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme update
In May we finally saw the launch of the Boiler Upgrade scheme. Although this has seen a slow start and some administrative issues from Ofgem (scheme administrator), we are finally seeing a gradual but steady uptake of installers and customers embracing the scheme. With voucher applications, and payments being made within around five working days, BEIS and Ofgem are also moving to digitise their Installer portal to replace the current outdated email application process. This will speed up the process and should be in
Phil Hurley, chair of the Heat Pump Association
are moving to heat pumps with around 50% of applications being for the replacement of mains gas systems.
Scotland
For Scottish installers and customers, the Scottish Government supports homeowners through the Home Energy Scotland Loan. Homeowners can access the following funding:
place by the end of November. Currently, there have been 8,904 applications received and a total of 4,660 vouchers paid.
This
is significantly behind what the RHI has delivered in later years, however it is still early days for the scheme, and therefore unfair to make judgements only six months in. Nevertheless, we require the Government to engage installers and customers in a targeted marketing campaign to ensure the maximum uptake is achieved for the anticipated 90,000 installations over the three years the BUS scheme will run. In addition, only 3% of BUS voucher applications are currently for ground source heat pump installations. The funding for these more costly installations requires an urgent review by BEIS, especially as under the RHI around 17 % of installations were ground source heat pumps. Without this, we risk the potential for customers to consider continuing to use fossil fuel alternatives. Despite this, the current BEIS BUS statistics do demonstrate that on-gas customers
¡ Up to £15,000 to improve home energy efficiency. ¡ Up to £17,500 for installing renewable energy systems, such as £10,000 for a heat pump (also open to self-builders). ¡ Up to £6,000 for energy storage systems. ¡ Up to £500 for installing a heat meter alongside a new heat pump ¡ There is a cashback option for some measures, meaning you don’t pay back that part of the funding.
In addition, there is also funding for heat pump
installers to be MCS certified through the Scottish Government MCS Certification fund. This provides heating engineers with greater interest in and incentives to install heat pumps (either air, ground or water source) with a grant to become MCS certified on heat pumps. The grant will pay 75% - up to a maximum of £1,000 - of the certification fees and will run until funds run out or until the end of March 2023, whatever comes first.
Training and qualifications
As heat pumps become a recognised option for low-cost heating and hot water, it is important that the existing installer network complement their skill set by undertaking suitable training courses. The HPA has developed two key training courses which are both Ofqual approved. HPA developed the LCL Awards Level 3 Award in the Installation and Maintenance of Heat Pump Systems. HPA, LCL, and Chartered Institute Plumbing Heating Engineers also developed the LCL Awards Level 3 Award in Low-Temperature Heating and Hot Water Systems in Dwellings to be part of the mandatory technical competence. Both courses provide a gateway for installers
to become MCS accredited for the design and installation of heat pump systems, and are delivered by several of our manufacturing members
https://www.heatpumps.org.uk/ recommendations-useful-links/
24 December 2022
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