Heat Pumps Today

15 Global energy management consultants, Charles River Associates, has worked with Grant UK to publish an infographic that summarises the headline targets from the Heat and Buildings Strategy as well highlighting the challenges and opportunities involved with decarbonising home heating. Charles River Associates and Grant UK publish infographic about decarbonising heating The aim of this document is to encourage discussions about the heating market including the challenges and goals that must be overcome and achieved to reach net zero carbon targets. While many accept the need to reduce the carbon footprint of home heating systems, there is much conversation about how homes in Great Britain will achieve this and Grant UK is keen to support and engage with these discussions. Charles River Associates is an energy consultant with an established presence in the energy sector and in many other industries. The co-authored infographic includes a high-level summary of the present heat and building emissions levels as well as the headline dates and incentives set by the Government on the road to net zero. It also covers three core areas where industry and ministers will need to concentrate including: scaling up the rollout of heat pumps with installer training, considering other o-gas solutions, such as hybrids, to help decarbonise hard-to-heat homes, and the role of agile electricity taris to support the transition to heat pumps. T R A I N I N G Info Visit: www.grantuk.com/media/4367/grant-uk-charles-river-associates-infographic-october-2021.pdf "THE UK GOVERNMENT MAY MISS AN OPPORTUNITY" www.acrjournal.uk/heat-pumps The UK government set the “ambition of phasing out the installation of new natural gas boilers from 2035” and making a decision on hydrogen for heat in 2026 in its Heat and Buildings Strategy presented on 19 October 2021. The new Heat and Buildings Strategy 3 incentivises households to switch to heat pumps (HP) £5,000 grants per household for a heat pump £450mn boiler upgrade scheme £3.9bn new funding to decarbonise heat and buildings Sources: HM Government (2021) Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener; BEIS (2021) Final UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics; HM Government (2021) Heat and Buildings Strategy; Gas Safe Register; Independent Networks Association, 2021: Utility Week/CRA (2021) Remaking energy retail; *Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) • Heat and buildings form a central piece of the UK government’s Net Zero Strategy presented on 19 October 2021 as heat and buildings emissions make up a significant share of all UK carbon emissions 1 . • Making progress in this category will be imperative in the context of the upcoming COP26 conference in Glasgow. For more information, visit www.crai.com/cop26 Building skills, agile tariffs and hybrid solutions needed to accelerate the decarbonisation of heating The Road to COP26 Heating is a key focus area in the UK government’s net-zero strategy • The UK government’s focus on electrifying heat by banning fossil fuel boilers from 2028 may miss an opportunity to use affordable and currently available hybrid solutions to benefit those in the fuel poverty trap along with those in off-gas/ hard-to-heat homes. • Up-skilling the workforce, along with the introduction of agile electricity tariffs are the two major points that will influence both the reduction of installation costs and running costs for the consumer through market competition. Conclusion and outlook Selected challenges and opportunities Indicative UK greenhouse gas emissions 2010-2019 (MtCO2e) 1,2 0 200 400 600 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 800 Heat and buildings emissions All other emissions Scaling up the rollout • The Heat and Buildings Strategy confirmed the target of 600,000 annual heat pump installations by 2028 from approx. 35,000. • According to the UK Government, there are currently ~3-4k active HP installers in the UK, however the real figure could be much lower at around 1.2k of competent and qualified installers. • The CIPHE* Low Temperature Heating Course and Heat Pump Associations LCL Heat Pump Training Course will contribute to rapidly increasing the number of qualified installers. 1 Potential of other off-gas solutions • A hybrid solution comprises a heat pump (HP) and a fuel boiler to satisfy the heat demand in hard-to-heat properties (where a HP cannot satisfy the heat loss on its own). • Such solutions could be a way to significantly reduce emissions of hard-to-heat properties without deep retrofit costs to customers. • The future Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not currently incentivise the installation of hybrid technologies. 2 Agile tariffs and smart pricing • The decarbonisation of heating may contribute to flexibility in the electricity system if combined with agile tariffs and smart pricing. • The right products and pricing structures could incentivise customers to change their heating behaviour, expectations or preferences. • The management of this service for customers may be a key future opportunity for current energy retailers, as many indicated in a recent Utility Week/CRA report§. 3