According to Russell Dean, of Mitsubishi Electric, the shocking statistics on heat pump installations released by the CCC show that the UK faces a tipping point in its long-term aspirations for the future of electrification.
If it wants to reverse this trend, UK government needs to go further and faster, going beyond the recently stated delinking of the price of electricity from gas to a full decoupling, says the Mitsubishi Electric Heat Pump Expert…
“The government needs to go ‘further and faster’ would be one conclusion from the Climate Change Committee’s latest report to Parliament which shows heat pump installations rising more slowly than needed.
“Whilst the Warm Homes Plan, the Future Homes and Building Standard, and some progress has been made in removing limited policy costs from electricity bills, which are all positive moves by the government, the primary block to the wider adoption of heat pumps – in both homes and businesses – remains the price difference between electricity and gas.
“As long as electricity remains three to four times more expensive per kilowatt hour than gas, renewable alternatives like heat pumps remain unaffordable for the majority.
“Policies that help to bridge the ‘Spark Gap’ will do more than anything to improve confidence in making the switch from gas, and support the UK’s move to energy independence.
“Additionally, the government should work with industry to identify and remove barriers to the installation of, for example, heat pumps capable of achieving a high temperature, and adopt the CCC’s recommendation, and what the industry has long advocated – a comprehensive programme to decarbonise public sector buildings.”
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