Ofgem annual report on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: comment

"Heat pumps will increasingly run off British renewable electricity while gas boilers will get more and more of their gas from abroad as North Sea output continues its inevitable decline. That's the choice we face; boost our energy security through more heat pumps, or import more gas to run boilers. Already a net zero home uses less than half of the imported energy compared to a house with a gas boiler and petrol car [2].

“The gas boiler industry has been running ‘campaigns of misinformation’, as one ex-Minister put it [3] and lobbied to delay policies like the Clean Heat Market Mechanism. We already manufacture heat pumps here in the UK, but with the US and EU leading on deploying heat pumps, it's now a question of where the private investment goes and how quickly we can grow the supply chain in the UK."

Notes to editors:

1. Ofgem report https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-07/BUS_AR_2023_24_FINAL.pdf
   
2. https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2024/net-zero-homes-most-energy-patriotic-use-less-than-half-the-energy-imports-of-gas-petrol-households-analysis#
   
3. https://news.sky.com/story/campaigns-of-misinformation-around-heat-pumps-says-energy-minister-amid-record-number-of-installations-13052428

For more information or for interview requests:

Tricia Curmi, ECIU, Tel: 078908 517 186, email: tricia.curmi@eciu.net