The increase in the number of heat pump installations last year was ‘significantly off track’, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned.
In its latest annual report assessing the UK’s progress on meeting its climate change targets, published on 17 July, the CCC notes that the level of heat pump installations only increased by four per cent compared to 2022, from 58,000 to 60,000.
This rate of installation must increase ‘substantially’ by the end of this decade to ensure that the proportion of homes heated by a heat pump increases from the current level of one per cent to one-tenth, says the climate watchdog.
However, a 62% increase in applications for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in the first four months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023, following a rise in the grants available via the initiative, offers more ‘promising signs’, according to the statutory climate adviser.
The CCC’s assessment is that there are ‘credible plans’ for only a third of the emissions reductions required to achieve the government’s 2030 overall decarbonisation target.
