European residential heat pump sales up 11% in H1

Sales of residential heat pumps were up 11% during the first half of this year when compared to the first half of last year, according to figures released by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA).

EHPA’s analysis of residential heat pump sales across Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden found around 1,163,000 units were sold in the first six months of this year.

This compares to 1,048,000 units sold across these countries in the first six months of last year. Together, these countries represent around 80% of the European market.

EHPA attributes the increase in sales to the sharp rise in oil and gas prices amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis and the European Commission’s plans to encourage EU governments to lower electricity tax.

“These are likely drivers of the growth in heat pump sales so far this year, which EHPA has long argued depend strongly on the electricity price,” the association explained.

The European Commission’s Electrification Action Plan states tax on electricity should be no higher than on gas and proposes a revision of network charges consumers pay on their power bills to reward flexible options, such as heat pumps.

The plan also sets a target of increasing the number of annual heat pump installations in Europe to 4 million by 2030.

“Europe is ending its addiction to a toxic, costly drug from dodgy suppliers – gas. The sooner electricity becomes the most affordable solution, the quicker we’ll get clean. The fix? Dropping taxes on electricity and shifting them over to fossil fuels,” commented EHPA director general Paul Kenny.

“The European Commission has made this clear, but now all EU governments must enact it, following in the footsteps of the Netherlands and Belgium.” he added.

Previous EHPA analysis found heat pump sales rose 13% across 21 European countries last year, reaching 2.88 million units.

The post appeared first on pv magazine Global.