Costs are falling but uptake will have to accelerate if the country is to hit net zero
. Under current market structures, gas-fired power stations set wholesale electricity prices most of the time, even though renewable sources — such as wind and solar plants, which generate electricity cheaply once built — are becoming more prevalent.
“[Heat pump] technology is ready and up to scratch,” he says. “What needs to be improved is the training, standards and skills of the installer base and the quantity of the best engineers, to really make sure those heat pumps are being designed, installed and operated in the right way.”, published in June, estimated that there were only around 3,000 trained heat pump engineers in the UK, but at least 27,000 would be required in the next six years to keep the UK on track with its ambitions.
Ian Rippin, chief executive of standards body MCS Certified, says installers also need to have good design skills to ensure an appropriate heat pump is fitted and much of the heat it produces is not lost. Yet he feels design skills have “almost been forgotten” by the UK heating industry as gas boilers, which quickly deliver the desired temperature, can “cover up a lot of issues”.
He adds that there is a “trickle” rather than a “tidal wave” of installers currently retraining, although MCS is trying to encourage new industry entrants to specialise in heat pumps and other “green” systems, through a low-carbon heating technician apprenticeship.
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