The energy regulator, Ofgem, has been challenged by a leading energy trade body to examine the real-world consequence of shifting homes from gas onto heat pumps.<\/p>\n
The CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), Mike Foster, has written to the regulator Jonathan Brearley, calling for a village-sized trial of decarbonising homes using heat pumps.<\/p>\n
The trial will mirror that currently being considered for homes to be converted to hydrogen, another option being considered to decarbonise the UK.<\/p>\n
Mr Foster said: \u201cA Heat Pump Village trial will replicate what will happen all across the UK if the government decides that hydrogen will not replace natural gas. Such a trial, conducted now, will help inform the regulator and government of the consequences for the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElectricity networks will need massive upgrades to the wires, the substations and even the pylons. Homes need assessing for their suitability for a heat pump. That means looking at the fabric of the building itself, its outside space, its internal pipework or even where to put a hot water tank. A Heat Pump Village trial does just this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOfgem should have the consumer at the very heart of its thinking. Reinforcement of the power network will come at a massive cost; the consumer will foot the bill so they have a right to know what this is likely to be. They should also be told what is required from them in their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlongside Hydrogen Village trials, a Heat Pump Village trial will provide the much-needed evidence for policymakers as they tackle the challenge of decarbonising UK homes. The cost of a trial will be miniscule compared to getting this wrong. I urge Ofgem to step up to the plate and take a lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
IMAGE CREDIT – iStock NAPA74<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The energy regulator, Ofgem, has been challenged by a leading energy trade body to examine the real-world consequence of shifting homes from gas onto heat pumps. The CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance (EUA), Mike Foster, has written to the regulator Jonathan Brearley, calling for a village-sized trial of decarbonising homes using heat pumps. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/heat-pump.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18778"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18783,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18778\/revisions\/18783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ewnews.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}