Background
Russia’s moves to sharply reduce natural gas flows into Europe have deepened the global energy crisis. Among the host of measures countries are taking in response to the crisis, heat pumps are one of the most important long-term solutions.It is stated in the report that heat pumps are receiving unprecedented policy support through the European Union’s REPowerEU Plan, the US Inflation Reduction Act and other policy initiatives around the world. However, key barriers to further scaling up production and deployment of heat pumps remain.
About the report
According to IEA’s press release Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director of IEA, has stated that “heat pumps address many of policy makers’ most pressing concerns on energy affordability, supply security and the climate crisis all the pieces are in place for the heat pump market to take off, in a similar way that we have seen for other key climate technologies like solar PV and electric vehicles. Policy measures are in place today, but they need to be reinforced urgently to allow heat pumps to fulfil their significant economic and environmental potential.”
This report is the first comprehensive global outlook on the subject. It conveys the message that heat pumps are a hyper-efficient and climate-friendly solution, which help consumers save money on bills and enable countries to cut reliance on imported fossil fuels.
Expected market development
Around 10% of space heating needs globally were met by heat pumps in 2021, but the pace of installation is growing rapidly, with sales at record levels. The heat pump market has been growing strongly in recent years, and global heat pump sales rose by nearly 15% in 2021, led by the European Union, where they rose by around 35%. According to the report, the heat pump sales are set to soar in the coming years when the energy crisis accelerates their adoption.
Since the technology is well proven, even in the coldest of climates and offers several benefits, IEA advises policy makers to put their weight behind this technology that is witnessing unprecedented momentum at the moment.
In a scenario in which all governments achieve their energy and climate pledges in full, heat pumps become the main way of decarbonising space and water heating worldwide. The IEA estimates heat pumps have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 500 million tonnes in 2030 – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of all cars in Europe today.
Leading manufacturers are seeing promising signs today and believe that sales could be tripled by 2030. Already today, there are announced plans to invest more than USD 4 billion in expanding heat pump production and related efforts, mostly in Europe.
The long and consistent work within the HPT TCP has clearly contributed to the development of the technology, resulting in that it is now a mature, tested and proven and keeps millions of homes warm already today. However, to transform and decarbonize the energy system and to be able to reach the climate ambitions, further research, development and demonstrations within the field of heat pumping technologies are needed which is also described in the report.
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