Rolling out heat pumps is central to the clean-energy transition and to achieving carbon neutrality in line with the goals set in the European Green Deal. All policy scenarios underpinning the ‘Fit for 55’ legislative proposals show a significant uptake of heat pumps in all sectors, and notably in buildings. To meet the 2030 targets and deliver the needed fast decarbonisation of heat, installing boilers in new buildings and replacing fossil-fuel boilers by newer ones should be discontinued as soon as possible.
The REPowerEU plan calls for prioritising investments in renewables and energy efficiency to reduce fossil- fuel imports and for doubling current roll-out rates of heat pumps in buildings. It also calls for a faster roll- out of large heat pumps for district heating and cooling networks.
There is an urgent need to shift to renewable and efficient heating and cooling technologies in buildings, industry and networks. The European Commission report on the competitiveness of clean energy technologies indicates that the roll-out of all types of heat pumps needs to accelerate further: from heat pumps for single-family houses, large multi-apartment buildings, tertiary buildings and heat networks, to high-temperature heat pumps for industrial applications. The Green Deal Industrial Plan points to heat pumps as one of the key technologies to meet EU climate-neutrality goals in the Net-Zero Industry Act to underpin industrial manufacturing.
Achieving these objectives builds on the framework set by:
the Renovation Wave;
the ongoing reviews of heating and cooling product-specific regulations under the Ecodesign and
Energy Labelling framework; and
the ongoing legislative revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which are part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package.
You can read the full submission here: CAN Europe Submission to EU Heat Pump Action Plan
