HEAT PUMPS
www.heatingandventilating.net
T
he Heat & Building’s Strategy published in 2021 highlighted electrically powered heat pumps as key to achieving the net zero target
and within it, the Government set an ambitious target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028. Heat pumps efficiently extract and utilise renewable energy from their surroundings (ground, water or air), and emit no point-of-use emissions or pollution as they do not burn anything. They are also highly efficient and consume around a third of the energy of a gas boiler for the same heat output. However, a political briefing highlighted by
Greenpeace noted that in the UK only 1.3 heat pumps is sold per 1,000 households with between 30,000 to 40,000 pumps installed each year. To get from the current situation to 600,000 installations a year, the existing market is going to require a massive upscale in the adoption of the technology over the next five years. However, the good news is that the benefits that heat pumps can bring are magnified when they are introduced at scale. Also, the exponential growth of the heat pump market on this scale presents clear opportunities for businesses throughout the supply chain.
Growing the Green economy
The evidence suggests that switching to a low carbon green economy will deliver sustainable financial stability, opportunity and resilience for the UK. Research shows that the adoption of low-carbon
Mass-scale solution to accelerate Net Zero ambitions
The Government plans to phase out gas boilers in new build homes from 2025, but with roughly 78% of the population reliant on gas for heat, and some 36,484 plumbing and heating businesses operating country-wide, many fear a future ‘total gas boiler ban’ being put in place without a realistic, reliable and accessible alternative. James Standley, COO of The Kensa Group offers some insight
heating technologies, energy efficiency measures and the shift towards low-carbon fuels can lead to positive impacts on the economy, with a £6.8bn increase in GDP predicted in 2030. As heat pumps become the default choice, the workforce will also need to be scaled up in the transition to a low carbon future. Certainly, a community-wide network of skilled installers will be needed on the frontlines to deliver 600,000 heat pump installations per year. Analysis by the Heat Pump Association suggests that we will need at least 50,200 installers by 2030, based on the deployment of one million heat
pumps; if this supported heat pumps manufactured in the UK a further 15,000 (high paid) jobs would be created. The UK job creation opportunity is increased when ground source pumps in particular are installed with the creation of up to 25,000 additional jobs in infrastructure provision. Unlocking the widespread adoption of heat pumps at a scale requires the wholescale upskilling of plumbers and heating engineers to the nuances of renewable heating devices. There may be a skills gap, but this is surmountable; all current renewable heating and gas installers have transferable knowledge and now is the ideal time to upskill.
28 March 2023
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