UK Member Country Report
Oliver Sutton, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

The HPT TCP is part of a network of autonomous collaborative partnerships focused on a wide range of energy technologies known as Technology Collaboration
Programmes or TCPs. The TCPs are organised under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA), but the TCPs are functionally and legally autonomous.
Views, findings and publications of the HPT TCP do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the IEA Secretariat or its individual member countries.

Sept 2021

www.heatpumpingtechnologies.orgIntroduction• Context• Market Summary• Policy• Innovation• Research and Development

www.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Context – UK Primary Energy Consumption
1990
Primaryelectricity
8%2019 Coal

Bioenergy &waste
0%

Coal
32%
Gas
24%

Oil
36%

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-energy-in-brief-2020

Bioenergy &
waste
10%
Primaryelectricity
12%

3%

Oil
36%

Gas
39%

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Context – UK Sector Energy Consumption

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Context – UK Electricity Generation
Electricity Generated by Fuel Type
50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Coal

Oil & other fuels

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-energy-in-brief-2020

Gas

NuclearHydroWind & solar

Other renewables

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Context – Heating Systems
Fuel Type

Number ofHouseholds

Mains gas

22 million

Electricity

2.2 million

Heating oil

1.1 million

District heating

420 thousand

Solid fuel200 thousand

LPG

193 thousand

Other

4 thousand

Total Households

26.2 million

Typical house gas consumption
13,000 kWh/ySH

DHWCooking~4 million GB homes are off the gas grid~1.3 million GB homes use oil/LPG for heatingwww.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Market – Domestic Heat Pumps
Domestic Heat Pump Sales (units)
50,000• Domestic heat pump sales remained
relatively constant despite theintroduction of the Renewable Heat
Incentive in 2014.

• The majority of growth is in air-watermonobloc units which offer lower upfront
cost and lower barriers for installation.
• Approximately 300k heat pumps are
installed in homes today.
• Gas boiler sales are ~1.6 million units peryear.

45,000300,000

40,00030,000200,000

25,000150,000

20,00015,000

100,000

10,00050,0005,00000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021F
Ground/ water to water

Air to water –split systems

Air to water –monobloc systems

Air to water combined with heat recovery

Air to water cylinder-integrated DHW HP

Heat Pump Stockwww.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Cumulative sales

250,000

35,000

Annual Sales• Sales have begun to increase as newpolicy certainty emerges and consumerawareness increases.

350,000

Market – Non-domestic
Air - Air & VRF Systems 2019
(Capacity)

Air- Air & VRF Systems Annual Sales< 5 kW43%

46%

5.01-7.0 kW> 7.01 kW

Annual Sales (units)

250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000011%

2015

2016

2017

Single splits

Multi splits

2018

2019

VRF

Many large systems not captured in market data

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Policy - Strategy•

Clean Growth Strategy 2017–––•

Clean Growth: Transforming Heat 2018–•

Identified key barriers and evidence gaps that need to be tackled in early 2020s

10 Point Plan and Energy White Paper 2020–•

Plan to phase out fossil fuel heating in new build homes and all buildings off thegas grid in the 2020s.
Will need to make strategic decisions about the gas grid
Likely to be multiple solutions – electrification, hydrogen, heat networks. A bigrole for heat pumps.

Ambition for 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028

Heat and Buildings Strategy 2021 – Coming Soon

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolutionwww.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Policy - Strategy
Government is committed to delivering 300,000 new homes each year
from the mid-2020s. New homes have low heat demand and no expensive
retrofit costs, so are well suited for heat pumps.

There are over 5m homes and businesses off the gas grid which
use oil, LPG or resistive electric heating. UK Government
has already announced plans to phase out high carbon fossil fuelheating in 1.3m buildings off the gas grid in the 2020s. For thesebuildings, heat pumps are typically the most cost effective lowcarbon heating solution.

New
Build

Off Gas Grid
Buildings

The optimal solution for the 24.5m homes andbusinesses on the gas grid is uncertain and may vary
locally. Options include heat networks, efficient electricheating solutions, like heat pumps, or replacing gaswith low-carbon alternatives: hydrogen or biogas.

On Gas GridBuildings

10 Point Plan and Energy White Paper 2020 - Ambition for
600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028

www.heatpumpingtechnologies.org
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution

Policy – Heating Systems•

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)– Introduced for non-domestic in 2011 and domestic 2014
– The first “feed-in tariff” for renewable heat.
– Receive a price/kwh of renewable heat produced andpaid over the lifetime of the installation– For heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar thermal,
biomethane/biogas, deep geothermal.
– Due to close for new applicants in March 2022•

Clean Heat Grant– Proposed policy to provide upfront grants for clean
heating including heat pumps. Details to be finalised.
– Successor to the RHI

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Policy – Building Decarbonisation£bn’s public investment in building decarbonisation
schemes– Home Upgrade Grant – focussing on wholehouse retrofits of lower income households– Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund –focussed on whole house retrofits of social
housing– Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery
Scheme – upfront grants for home-owners,
including delivery through local authorities– Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund –focussed on tacking public buildings

Regulations to mandate minimum building standards– Tighter building regulations will phase out
fossil fuel heating from 2025
– Regulations to move buildings up energy
bands (A-G) with minimum requirements forprivate landlords– Proposed regulations to phase out fossil fuelheating in buildings off the gas grid in 2020s
Obligation on energy companies to improve energyefficiency of homes

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Innovation
BEIS Energy Innovation Programme(£505m 2015 – 2021)~£90m for project on the built environment•

Electrification of Heat Demonstrator – installing
750 heat pumps in homes, monitoring their use
and aiming to demonstrate cost reductions•

Challenge funds for low carbon heating – tosupport a variety of innovative projects

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/energy-innovation

BEIS Net Zero Innovation Portfolio(£1bn 2021 – 2025)
10 Priority Areas• future offshore wind
• nuclear advanced modular reactors• energy storage and flexibility• bioenergy• hydrogen• homes• direct air capture and greenhouse gas removal (GGR)• advanced carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS)• industrial fuel switching• disruptive technologies

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Research•

Large thematic area of end-use energy
demand•Research tends to focus on heat pumps insystems rather than component level•

Specific expertise on gas sorption heat pumps,
energy storage, whole energy system modelling,https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/heat-pump-researchbuilding simulation modellingwww.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Summary• Heat pumps in the UK are currently a niche market in homes but widely used incommercial buildings.
• The market is growing steadily but new policy developments are expected toincrease this in specific areas e.g. new build, off-grid buildings.
• Ambition for high levels of heat pump deployment with key decisions around therole for hydrogen in heating needed in the next decade.
• Significant barriers remain around suitability of the building stock, consumerawareness, gas/electricity price ratio and upfront cost of systems.

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