NEWS UPDATE HEAT PUMP POLICY In Brief


● The latest data from MCS shows there were 210,000 installations in the UK between January and June 2026, up 17% on the previous highest start to a year in 2025 and equivalent to one installation every 74 seconds. One in three installations in 2026 combined multiple renewable technologies in one home, with solar PV and battery storage increasingly being combined.


● Energy infrastructure specialists YLEM Group has relocated its headquarters to the heart of Salford Quays, to support its long-term business growth aims. As part of its relocation, it plans to use the office as a central base for its expanding team which works across the group’s three specialist businesses: YLEM Energy, Root-Power and Power Zero.


● Daikin has taken another step forward in sustainable construction by expanding its range of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to include commercial air conditioning, chillers and commercial heat pump ranges. This follows the recent release of EPDs for the company’s residential heat pump and air conditioning range. To access the company’s full range of EPDs visit: daikin.co.uk/epd.


● Natural Power has secured a five- year contract with ScottishPower Renewables to provide operations and maintenance services at four onshore windfarms in southern Scotland: Ewe Hill 1, Ewe Hill 2, Hagshaw Hill 2 and Wether Hill. Its existing Black Law Windfarm contract has also been extended.


● A partnership has been struck between EDF Small Business and Heliotec, beginning with a four-month trial involving more than 1,000 eligible EDF Small Business customers. The partnership combines EDF’s customer relationships and energy expertise with Heliotec’s AI-powered energy intelligence platform, aimed at making energy management more practical for small businesses.


● Heat Networks Scotland and Heat Pump Association UK (HPA UK) have announced a new reciprocal membership partnership, strengthening collaboration between two organisations committed to accelerating the decarbonisation of heat across Scotland. It reflects a shared recognition that low carbon heat networks will play a critical role in delivering Scotland’s net zero targets and energy independence ambitions.


08 The repercussions of scrapping ECO


The abrupt abandonment of the Energy Company Obligation in April has been a key factor in the drop in the number of heat pump installations registered in the UK – this is according to Katy King, director of innovation at Nesta, the government’s official innovation agency. Last year, around 13,000 heat pumps


were installed under the ECO scheme, funded by electricity and gas companies, but in a bid to trim policy costs from energy bills, the scheme was suddenly scrapped last November by the former Chancellor Rachel Reeves. King warns that “ECO had been an


increasingly important source of heat pump funding over the last few years. It leaves a gap that will need to be filled quickly”. There is as yet no sign of how that gap will be filled.


The abandonment of ECO has also had an impact on employment figures in the sector. According to a recent industry survey undertaken by the Installation Assurance Authority Federation, 19,800 skilled professionals have already been made redundant following the ex-Chancellor’s announcements. A further 79,000 are estimated to be made redundant within the next 12 months, while 192 installation companies have gone into administration already this year. As a comparator, the entire Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen will, at peak, produce just 300 job opportunities.


Onshore wind could save billpayers £3bn a year


Expanding onshore wind to meet the UK government’s 2030 target could save electricity billpayers about £3bn a year compared with generating the same amount of power from new gas-fired stations, according to new industry analysis. RenewableUK, which represents the wind industry,


said reaching the target of 29GW of onshore wind capacity could also provide almost £500m a year for local communities through business and property rates and community benefit funds. The UK currently has 16.4GW of operational onshore


wind capacity, which generates about 12% of the country’s annual electricity needs. Most of that capacity is in Scotland, where 10.7GW is operational. The government wants onshore wind capacity across


Great Britain to reach 29GW by 2030. In England and Wales, capacity would need to rise from 4.2GW to 8.6GW. However, projects with grid connection offers so far


account for only about half of the capacity needed to meet the target, according to analysis by Aurora Energy Research cited by RenewableUK. The industry group said replacing older turbines at existing wind farms could help increase capacity more


quickly. Its analysis found that repowering and extending the lives of existing projects could add 659MW towards the 2030 target, rising to 2.1GW by 2035. RenewableUK chief executive Tara Singh comments:


“As onshore wind is one of our cheapest forms of new power, and one of the fastest to build, this will cut bills and strengthen the UK’s energy security by delivering more homegrown power at the lowest cost.” The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit has separately


estimated that wholesale electricity prices in 2025 would have been 31% higher without wind power, if more expensive gas generation had been used instead.


AI demand puts pressure on data centre maintenance


Growing demand for artificial intelligence is putting greater pressure on data centre cooling and power systems, prompting calls for operators to move towards more predictive maintenance.


Engineering manufacturer Wilo


says high-density GPU clusters are placing cooling, pumping and electrical systems under increasing strain, making equipment failures more difficult to anticipate. Its research, published in June, found that 74% of UK data centre operators still use reactive or preventative maintenance strategies. Almost half (45%) identified unexpected asset breakdowns as a key challenge. The International Energy Agency (IEA)


reported that electricity consumption from the data centre sector increased by 17% in 2025 and forecast that


“There is therefore an imperative


need for maintenance strategies to mirror the advancements in the technology that data centres are now accommodating. They are, after all, critical national infrastructure, meaning every aspect of their operations must be treated accordingly.” Predictive maintenance can use real-


demand could double by 2030. Alice Oakes, service and support manager at Wilo, says: “AI is changing the industry, not least the world, as we know it. As capacity increases to meet its intensive demands, so do the stakes. The potential consequences of just one asset, a pump for example, failing are only growing. Major disruption, reputational damage and financial penalties follow.


time information from equipment such as pumps, motors and cooling systems to identify potential faults before they cause failures. It can also be used to schedule maintenance and spare parts requirements based on the condition of equipment, rather than fixed intervals or after a failure has occurred. Oakes adds: “Predictive maintenance is a fundamental element of a successful setup in today’s data centre environment. Operators must plan for every eventuality.”


EIBI | SEPTEMBER 2026


For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36