European Commission postpones heat pump action plan

The European Commission has removed an action plan for heat pumps from its agenda which was originally scheduled for publication in the fourth quarter of 2023. This action plan was intended to build on similar initiatives to support wind and solar energy.

Illustration

Play audio version

The decision disappointed the European industry, which is facing faltering sales in Europe. According to Thomas Nowak from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), “Europe is falling behind on the decarbonisation of heat.” According to the plans of the European Union, heat pumps will gradually replace fossil fuel boilers for household heat in the coming years. By 2030 there should be a minimum of 30 million units installed across the EU.

To support the deployment of heat pumps, many EU countries have yet to restrict the sale of traditional fossil-based heaters. In Germany, however, a government attempt to ban them as of 2024 brought the government to the brink of collapse. Other issues are the price of electricity, shortage of skilled technicians to install them and undersized electricity grids.

-tk-

Article source EurActiv.com - EU policy information in 15 languages
Read more articles from EurActiv.com