According to the official standards body of the industry, in 2023 heat pump installations will reach record levels, as well as rooftop solar panel installations.
Last year, almost 190 000 rooftop solar systems were installed, which is the highest number since the government cut its subsidy program in late 2011.
According to data, the number heat pump installed in the UK has reached a new record of almost 40,000. This is a 25% increase over the previous year. The total number of heat pumps certified in the UK now exceeds 200,000.
MCS, the industry’s accreditation organization, reported a surge in heat pumps following the government’s increase in grants for its boiler upgrade program from PS5,000 to PS7.500 for an air source heat pump in October. The MCS said that applications for the grant increased 50% after the increase in the rate.
The MCS Foundation, who oversee the standards scheme of the organisation, has said that the UK is still not meeting its goal to reduce the reliance on natural gas. This step is seen as crucial in order to meet Britain’s legally-binding climate targets.
The government added that heat pumps will have increased more than tenfold in the next four to five years, to reach the target of 600,000.
David Cowdrey said that the foundation’s director of external affairs, David Cowdrey stated that the industry still needed additional government policies on top of higher grants to achieve the “exponential growth” which was “required right now”.
He called on government to shift social and environment tariffs from the energy bills to general taxation to reduce electricity costs, and to make heat pumps cheaper to run than a gas-fired boiler.
Charlotte Lee, chief executive of Heat Pump Association (a trade association), said: “With the consumer demand for heat pump increasing, we encourage heating engineers to invest in heat-pump installation training to support anticipated deployments and future-proof their businesses.”
In 2011, solar installations were short of the 203,000 record, as people raced to get the money they earned from the Feed-in Tariff Support Scheme before it was cut.
Chris Hewett is the chief executive officer of the trade association Solar energy UK. He said that the solar industry was on a roll. “This is especially true as we begin to complete work on the government and industry solar taskforce whose roadmap to deliver 70GW of capability is due to published in the next couple of months.
It is also very pleasing to see the growth of battery energy storage and heat pump systems. These systems complement rooftop solar energy systems so well, maximising their savings and decarbonisation.