The UK government has announced a new scheme to accelerate the installation of heat pumps and heat networks across the country, with over £14 million being made available for the initiative. More than £9.7 million will be allocated to four projects based across the country, from Bristol to Cambridgeshire, to reduce the costs of these low-carbon technologies and minimize disruption to consumers by coordinating the widespread rollout in concentrated areas.
To support the shift to cleaner energy in homes, the government has also launched a new £5 million Heat Training Grant to support 10,000 trainees over the next two years to become low-carbon heating experts. This initiative will create new green jobs and contribute to the growth of the economy in flourishing green industries. Grants of up to £500 will be available for training, and heating manufacturers such as Panasonic, Valliant, and Worcester-Bosch are expected to offer additional discounts to participating trainees.
Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, emphasized the significance of the funding, saying that it will provide a significant boost to the rollout of heat pumps by making them cheaper and easier to install, and helping more households move away from costly fossil fuels. However, Lord Callanan also emphasized the need for a skilled workforce to deliver this, and thus the importance of training thousands of people to become experts at installing heat pumps and heat networks.
Using cheaper renewable energy produced in the UK, heat pumps are highly efficient and reliable and key to cutting carbon emissions. The government’s £60 million Heat Pump Ready program aims to develop innovative solutions to reducing barriers to the rollout of low-carbon technology in homes and businesses across the UK.
Successful results were achieved in the second phase of funding for four Heat Pump Ready projects, two in Oxfordshire and one each in Bristol and Cambridgeshire. Installing the heat pumps purchased through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in successful projects will commence in late December of this year. By 2028, the government expects the deployment of heat pumps to reach 600,000 annually, representing a tenfold increase from 2021.
The Heat Training Grant will provide heating engineers with grants of up to £500 towards training in order to meet demand. An experienced gas or oil heating installer can complete a level 3 heat pump course, which takes one week or less, and the grant could cover most of the cost. Expected discounts and offers from heating manufacturers such as Baxi, NIBE, Panasonic, Vaillant, Ideal Heating, and Worcester-Bosch will be available to participate trainees.
Karen Boswell, Managing Director UK and Ireland at heating manufacturer Baxi, welcomed the government’s investment in developing the new skills needed to support the growth of low-carbon heating solutions in homes and buildings. She said that Baxi is fully committed to helping the industry transition to net zero and is focused on helping individuals access opportunities to participate in the anticipated growth of air-source heat pumps.
Shaun Edwards, CEO of Groupe Atlantic UK, ROI, and North America Divisions, said that Ideal Heating believes installers will play a critical role in the decarbonization of heating and welcomes further government funding targeted at heat pump training. The Ideal Heating Expert Academy has also committed to providing additional subsidized training for installers participating in the government scheme.
The financial support, together with the forthcoming opening of the state-of-the-art National Training and Technology Centre, will make the upskilling of the sector to install and maintain heat pumps as affordable and accessible as possible to support the drive to net zero.
Source: Gov[Dot]UK
