A survey of trade body members has shown a predicted spike in the adoption of electric heating systems over the coming year as industry looks to begin addressing skills challenges
67,000 heat pump installations are expected in the UK this year, almost double the adoption levels seen in 2019, according to a new industry study.
The Heat Pump Association (HPA) said a survey of its membership base, which is estimated to account for 95 per cent of existing manufacturers, recorded a significant increase in potential orders for the coming year.
Efforts to expand heat pump take-up in the UK is a vital part of the country’s strategy to decarbonise its buildings by 2050. The government’s ten point ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ plan released late in 2020 committed industry to instal 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
35,000 heat pumps were sold in 2019, according to the HPA. The association’s own ‘roadmap to net zero’ plan set a target to 72,000 heat pumps to be installed this year.
The government recently announced it would be outlawing use of fossil fuel boilers for heat in new build properties from 2025 – a move intended to drive industry to moving to alternative solutions such as heat pumps and low carbon district heating.
However, the focus to expand use of heat pumps within the UK’s building stock is not without challenges around ensuring a sufficiently skilled installer base is available to introduce the technologies nationally.
The HPA said it was committed to ensure a sufficiently skilled installer base was in place to introduce the technologies at the scale in UK homes.
The association stated, “Trained heat pump installers are a key part of the low carbon transition and must therefore be able and willing to access training.”
The creation of a technology neutral low temperature heat course for installers was highlighted by the HPA in a 2020 report as being an important first step to address the issue of skills. This training can then be built on with more specialist focuses on the efficient adoption and use of low carbon solutions such as heat pumps, the association added. Courses setting out this lower carbon training are expected to commence this year.
HPA chair Phil Hurley said the findings of its survey should be seen as a welcome sign of progress in the adoption of heat pumps.
He said, ““The near doubling of the heat pump market this year would be a substantial achievement at a time when the decarbonisation of homes and buildings is not just desired but essential; our members are committed to turning today’s forecast into a reality and have clearly backed this up with their advanced ordering.”
“The estimation of 67,000 heat pumps in 2021 shows the confidence from members of the HPA in delivering the scale up of heat pumps that the prime minister’s ten point plan necessitates. This is just the beginning of a long journey ahead but we’re off to an incredibly promising start.”
Late last year, parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee warned that the overall cost of heat pumps and a need to greatly expand the training of installers remained significant barriers to meet the target of 600,000 annual installations by 2028.
