Heat pumps have emerged as a powerful tool in Europe’s mission to reduce its reliance on gas heating. France, Italy, Poland and several other EU nations have noted a boom in the number of heat pumps installed, each one helping reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.
But a sceptical public and a muddled policy landscape have made the UK see slower progress. The British government plans to have 600,000 heat pumps a year being installed by 2028. But last year the total was 72,000, a concerningly low number relative to population size.
“No One Seems To Be Willing To Take Real Action”
The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) reported a record year of heat pump sales across the continent for 2022. The market continued to embrace growth in the first half of 2023 but the third quarter started to note signs of falling sales, it said.
Calling the circumstances concerning, Thomas Nowak, head of the EHPA, said: “This is completely the wrong direction for the heat pump market and policymakers are not sufficiently alarmed by the situation. No one seems to be willing to take real action.”
Last year in France, heat pumps outsold fossil fuel boilers for the first time. The country recorded 620,000 sales in 2022, compared to just 55,000 in Britain. French heat pump sales continued to grow in the first half of 2023, before dipping by 13% in the third quarter.
Charlotte Lee, head of the UK’s Heat Pump Association, pointed to France’s strict new-build standards, heat pump grants, relatively low electricity prices and growing base of heat pump installers as key factors behind the country’s success.
Popularity Of Heat Pumps In Scandinavian Countries
But despite France recording the highest number of heat pump installations, Italy and Poland emerged as fastest growing markets. The two countries noted the biggest leap in sales last year. The rise in demand has been coupled with strong government initiatives.
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Meanwhile, Norway has by far the highest penetration of heat pumps per capita on the planet, at 60% of all households. Its Scandinavian neighbours, Sweden has more than a million installed heat pump units and Denmark has also seen more recent moves to introduce heat pumps.
