Heat pump target set at 600,000

Renewable energy is now even more urgent as houses have become both home and office.

That's according to a Cork based research centre which is calling on the Government to introduce various incentives to help meet its target to install 600,000 environmentally efficient domestic heat pumps in homes across Ireland by 2030.

The International Energy Research Centre (IERC) at Tyndall National Institute made the call as it recently published a Best Practices and Policy Solutions for Ireland’s 2030 Heat Pump Target report that identified the barriers and pathways for Ireland to meet this ambitious target, including best practices in international policy and extract insights from existing scientific research.

It called on Government to introduce a combination of capital grants, tax breaks, zero interest loans and employment training to help meet the targets which were initially set out under the 2019 Climate Action Plan as part of Ireland’s commitment to reduce its environmental impact.

Although the current Programme for Government includes a plan to commence a targeted programme to install heat pumps in homes that are already suitable for this technology, it is not yet clear how targets will be achieved, IERC said.

The IERC Heat Pump report highlights that, in countries leading in heat pump installations, capital grants covering a proportion of installation costs and tax breaks on labour costs have been two of the most common financial supports to encourage adoption.

Professor Brian Norton, Head of Energy Research at Tyndall National Institute, said: “The findings of this report lay out the strategies of countries leading the heat pump market and will enable policy makers and ministers focus on areas that need to be prioritised for Ireland to achieve 600,000 heat pumps installed by the end of 2030.”

Report author and IERC Senior Energy Policy Analyst Dr Piyush Verma said: “The current pandemic has made renewable energy even more urgent as houses have become both home and office. People need warm, healthy environments without a surge in home heating costs.”