ECA backs Government plans for low-carbon heat

Leading electrotechnical and engineering services trade body ECA broadly welcomed the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy, which includes a scheme to help UK households install new, low-carbon heating systems. The Government announced the strategy on 18 October 2021.

Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plan-to-drive-down-the-cost-of-clean-heat

However, ECA urges further action in the coming years to meet the UK’s net zero carbon 2050 target. Measures should include a wider package of solutions encompassing energy efficiency, heating, retrofits and decarbonisation of the grid.

Grants worth £5,000 per household will help ensure that low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps are no more expensive to install and run than fossil fuel boilers. A total of £450 million will be earmarked over the next three years for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Luke Osborne, ECA Energy Solutions Advisor, said, “This announcement is a step in the right direction. The grants will be more attractive than the outgoing Renewable Heat Incentive. However, £450 million over three years only equates to 90,000 installations. Industry is currently installing around 30,000 heat pumps per year, so this funding is unlikely to drive a large amount of additional demand – the announcement maintains the status quo for now.

“We need further commitment very soon if we are to make any considerable impact. The COP26 conference might be our best chance to do so.”

Paul Reeve, ECA Director of CSR, added, “We welcome the intention to move price levies away from electricity. This will greatly stimulate the electrification of heating from an increasingly decarbonised grid, though restructuring the cost of domestic energy must also help to reduce fuel poverty.”

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is part of more than £3.9 billion of funding announced by the Government for decarbonising heat and buildings. Gas boilers will be banned from 2035. The announcement came just before the COP26 2021 climate conference, which will be hosted from 31 October in Glasgow.

ECA’s near 2,700 member businesses, with a combined turnover of over £4 billion, ranging from SMEs to large, nationwide contracting businesses, are at the forefront of grid decarbonisation and the electrification of heat and transport. ECA produces exclusive guidance to help its members deliver net zero carbon skills and technologies.

This article was posted on the ECA website. It was published on 19 October 2021.

--ECA

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Articles by the Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA).
• Boiler.
• Boiler markets and the green recovery.
• Building heating systems.
• CIOB holds net zero event with industry experts and UK Government.
• Domestic heat pumps and the electricity supply system.
• Fabric first will safeguard heat decarbonisation.
• Heat pump.
• Low carbon in the construction industry.
• Net zero strategy: build back greener.
• Performance gap in low energy housing.
• Renewable heat incentive RHI.
• Thermal comfort in buildings.

[edit] External resources

• ECA, Green pivot guidance.